Celsius CEO Mulls Crypto Custody Pivot After Lending Business Imploded: Report
Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky recently proposed revamping the failed crypto lending business as a digital asset custody firm, according to a New York Times report.

Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky recently proposed revamping the failed crypto lending business as a digital asset custody firm, according to a New York Times report.
Celsius is one of a handful of crypto companies to file for bankruptcy protection in recent months after falling victim to the market crash and imploding counterparties. It’s still working through how to make depositors – who bet on Celsius’ high yields and lost – whole.
Pivoting to custody would give Celsius a new revenue stream by collecting fees from depositors, according to the New York Times, which said employees were skeptical of Mashinsky’s “Kelvin '' codenamed plan when he pitched it on Sept. 8.
Whether any depositors would show up is another matter.
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Pudgy Penguins is emerging as one of the strongest NFT-native brands of this cycle, shifting from speculative “digital luxury goods” into a multi-vertical consumer IP platform. Its strategy is to acquire users through mainstream channels first; toys, retail partnerships and viral media, then onboard them into Web3 through games, NFTs and the PENGU token.
The ecosystem now spans phygital products (> $13M retail sales and >1M units sold), games and experiences (Pudgy Party surpassed 500k downloads in two weeks), and a widely distributed token (airdropped to 6M+ wallets). While the market is currently pricing Pudgy at a premium relative to traditional IP peers, sustained success depends on execution across retail expansion, gaming adoption and deeper token utility.
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Circle faces first major 'threat' for institutional dollars from Tether’s USAT

While Circle's USDC has operated without a "credible domestic competitor," Tether's USAT has the potential to shake up the landscape, analysts said.
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- Analysts said USAT, the U.S.-focused stablecoin by Tether, could become the first credible domestic competitor to Circle's USDC token.
- USAT is "a threat to USDC" and could gain an edge through institutional partners and global USDT connectivity, Crypto is Macro Now's Noelle Acheson said.
- ClearStreet's Owen Lau called USAT “a manageable risk” for Circle, and noted potential "cannibalization" risk between Tether's two tokens.










