Former Celsius Network CEO and serial entrepreneur, Alex Mashinsky, once proposed to investors an ambitious plan to raise $1 billion for a new business initiative called Celsius Web Service (CWS). The intention was to provide generic versions of its products, such as those focused on yield and custody, meant to work as a 'web3 toolbox for a New World'. Mashinsky's plan was pitched to investors, including Goldman Sachs and ADQ, in May and June of 2021; both of whom, along with Caoisse de Depot et Placement du Québec, had jointly injected $750 million into Celsius that same year. Unfortunately, this plan arrived too late to prevent the loan business from taking its toll and dragging the company down the path of bankruptcy.

Mashinsky’s proposal was met with some doubt in the cryptocurrency sector. After all, the funds were received just before the poor performance of the loan business forced the company to suspend withdrawals on June 12th and declare bankruptcy a month later.

In response to inquiries about the CWS project, Mashinsky sent a hyperlink to a blog post which accused Alameda Research, a subsidiary of the defunct FTX, of being at fault for the company's downfall.

Said project was rooted in the intention of significantly boosting the presence of cryptocurrency in the business sector through financial institutions inside and outside of the sector. Moreover, Goldman Sachs' presentation in May 2022 mentioned that Celsius had plans to explore the possibilities of a partnership to further its interactions in the crypto field.

The installment of the $1 billion in a hopeful new venture such as CWS was not enough to ward off the pressures the company had to battle with and it eventually sank. This, however, does not diminish the ambition of the attempt, and it serves as an excellent example of the struggles of the cryptocurrency sector.



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