NEW YORK, Aug 14 Reuters Crypto lender Celsius Network on Monday received a U.S. bankruptcy judge39;s permission to seek creditor approval for its bankruptcy plan, advancing a proposal to exit Chapter 11 as a new entity owned by its creditors.

Judge Martin Glenn signed off on Celsius39;s disclosure statement and solicitation materials at a U.S. Bankruptcy Court hearing in Manhattan, saying Celsius had given creditors sufficient information to vote on the proposed restructuring.

Some creditors oppose the plan, but the official committee appointed to represent junior creditors supports it and will recommend that Celsius customers vote in favor.

New Jerseybased Celsius filed for Chapter 11 protection in July 2022, one of several crypto lenders to go bankrupt following the rapid growth of the industry during the COVID19 pandemic. Celsius had 600,000 customers who held about 4.4 billion in interestbearing Celsius accounts when it filed for bankruptcy, according to court documents.

Celsius39;s bankruptcy plan would return some crypto deposits to retail customers and hand control of remaining business lines including bitcoin mining and staking to the Fahrenheit Group, a consortium that includes blockchainbased venture capital firm Arrington Capital.

Celsius estimates that most of its customers, who had interestbearing Earn accounts, will receive a 67 recovery, through return of liquid crypto assets like Bitcoin and Ether, equity shares in the new company, and proceeds of…