Canadian pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) announced that it has written off its $150 million investment in Celsius.
It manages around CAD$392 billion ($303 billion) in assets and recently shared its six-month returns for the first half of the year. CDPQ registered an average return of -7.9%, revealing it wrote off CAD$200 million investment in Celsius.
The bankrupt crypto lender Celsius had pushed the CDPQ into questioning whether entering the market was the right decision. CEO Charles Emond stated that the crypto space was in transition, and the fund had arrived too soon.
He also noted that the fund employed due diligence and caution before betting on crypto. At this point, however, CDPQ is exploring legal options. He went on to say the CDPQ had a 4% equity stake and the conversations were pretty straightforward in regard to this. The teams are accountable for that.
Emond’s statement comes nearly a year after the pension fund’s investment in Celsius. In October 2021, CDPQ and growth equity firm WestCap jointly injected $400 million into the crypto lending platform with CDPQ’s share being $150 million.
On the other hand, Celsius will run out of cash by October as per financial projections presented in a court filing. Currently, Celsius holds $2.8 billion in crypto liabilities.
