Babel Finance is a global cryptocurrency financial services provider serving institutional and HNW investors.
What is Babel Finance?
Babel Finance is a global crypto financial institution dedicated to serving high net worth individuals and corporate clients around the world with professional crypto financial services, including 3 core businesses: crypto lending, crypto asset management and crypto prime finance.
The firm started in 2018 as a lender to crypto miners in China. It has since turned to institutional investors in Singapore and Hong Kong.
Babel Finance Suspends Withdrawals
Hong Kong-based crypto lender Babel Finance has suspended withdrawals and redemptions, according to an announcement on the company’s website.
The statement reads, “Babel Finance faces unusual liquidity pressures,” before referring to large market fluctuations and “conductive risk events” among institutional market participants.
Last month, Babel raised $80 million in the Series B round at a valuation of $2 billion.
At the end of 2021, Babel Finance’s outstanding loan balance was over $3 billion, up from $2 billion the previous February.
It averaged $800 million in monthly derivatives trading volume and over $20 billion in options products was structured and traded.
On Thursday, rival staking platform Finblox took a similar decision, limiting withdrawals to $1,500 per month due to its affiliation with Three Arrows Capital.
According to a report by The Block, Three Arrows Capital found itself at the center of bankruptcy speculation as several leading exchanges liquidated their fund positions.
The cryptocurrency market is at its lowest point since December 2020, with bitcoin (BTC) trading just above $20,000, while ether (ETH) holds the psychological support level at $1,000. The market was hit by negative sentiment, exacerbated when crypto lender Celsius stopped withdrawals earlier this month.
