Crypto lender Babel Finance halts withdrawals due to liquidity pressures

Hong Kong-based asset manager Babel Finance is the latest cryptocurrency lending firm experiencing some serious issues amid the ongoing market downturn.

Babel Finance officially announced June 17 a temporary suspension of redemptions and withdrawals from its products, citing “unusual liquidity pressures.”

“Recently, the crypto market has seen major fluctuations, and some institutions in the industry have experienced conductive risk events,” the statement on Babel Finance’s website reads.

The firm said that it’s in close communication with “all related parties” on the matter and is doing its best in order to best protect its customers.

Founded in 2018, Babel Finance is a major cryptocurrency financial services provider, offering crypto lending, asset management and financing services to institutional investors. The company’s portfolio generated $8 billion in average monthly trading volumes. In early May 2022, Babel raised $40 million in a Series A funding round led by companies like Zoo Capital, Sequoia Capital China, Dragonfly Capital and Tiger Global Management.

By halting withdrawals, Babel Finance joins the growing list of crypto lending firms experiencing major issues due to the current market conditions. The crypto staking and lending platform Celsius became one of the first firms to signal the ongoing crypto lending crisis, officially halting withdrawals on its platform on June 13.

This article is developing and will be updated.