Celsius Shakes up Polygon MATIC Price with 26M Exchange Move

Bankrupt Celsius stirs Polygon (MATIC) uncertainty with large transfers to exchanges.

by Okoya David. Fact checked by: Ciaran Lawler, Editor: Stefan Trapp

Published: January 18, 2024 │ 11:45 AM GMT

Polygon drops to the ground after the power of Celsius network. — *Created by Kornelija Poderskytė from DailyCoin*

Celsius has moved a large amount of Polygon (MATIC) to exchanges.
The move coincided with a sharp drop in MATIC’s price.
MATIC’s price, however, may be set to make a quick rebound.

Following several large crypto industry blow-ups experienced in 2022, the unwinding of assets tied to bankrupt firms contributes to selling pressure on the crypto market. Celsius, one of the crypto lenders that went belly up, has recently ramped up efforts to kick off asset distribution to creditors. Amid these efforts, the bankrupt lender recently sent a substantial amount of Polygon (MATIC) to exchanges, shaking up the price.

Polygon (MATIC) Slips

In an X post on Thursday, January 18, crypto intelligence platform Spot on Chain highlighted that Celsius had moved 26 million MATIC (approximately $21.26 million) to exchanges in two transactions of 22.73 million MATIC (about $18.79 million) and 3.02 million MATIC (approximately $2.47 million) to Binance and Crypto.com, respectively.

#Celsius Network deposited 25.75M $MATIC ($21.26M) to CEX at $0.826 on avg in the past 8 hours as the price dropped:

• 22.73M $MATIC ($18.79M) to #Binance
• 3.02M $MATIC ($2.47M) to #Cryptocom

Currently, Celsius Network still holds 34.09M $MATIC ($27.56M) in the address.

To… pic.twitter.com/IxRCedTH7V
— Spot On Chain (@spotonchain) January 18, 2024

According to Etherscan data, these transfers occurred between 5 and 6 pm UTC on Wednesday, January 17, with Spot on Chain estimating an average price of $0.826. Following the move, however, MATIC slipped 3% to trade as low as $0.802.

A Quick Rebound in the Cards?

At the time of writing, MATIC has erased most of its losses to trade at around $0.82, in a move that, in the best case, could see it run up to range highs at around $0.988.

*MATIC/USDT daily candle chart. Source:* *TradingView*

The asset’s price has been stuck in this range since November 2023 after breaking a months-long downtrend. Investors would hope that the asset can find the momentum to make a decisive break above this pattern, which could confirm the formation of a bull flag amid analyst predictions of a run to $1.8.

On the Flipside

Celsius still holds over 34 million MATIC worth over $27 million at current rates.
MATIC has recently faced uncertainty as the Polygon Foundation has been accused of misappropriating 400 million tokens.