Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky sentenced to 12 years in prison

By: the verge|2025/05/09 05:45:01
0
Share
copy
Alex Mashinsky, the founder and former CEO of the collapsed cryptocurrency lending firm Celsius, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for fraud that led to “billions in losses,” the Department of Justice announced on Thursday . Celsius, which held $25 billion in assets at its peak, abruptly halted withdrawals and transfers during a broader crypto crash in 2022 , locking up billions in customer funds . The firm filed for bankruptcy just weeks later . The DOJ charged Mashinsky with securities fraud in 2023, accusing him of misrepresenting Celsius’s business and finances. It also claimed Mashinsky artificially inflated the price of the platform’s token, CEL, by “spending hundreds of millions purchasing it on the open market.” Mashinsky pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud and one count of commodities fraud last December. Mashinsky’s arrest comes as the Trump administration takes a softer stance on crypto regulation. Last month, a memo obtained by The Washington Post revealed the disbandment of a DOJ division dedicated to investigating crypto firms. The Securities and Exchange Commission has dropped several cases against companies in crypto, including Coinbase , Kraken , and Robinhood . “Alexander Mashinsky targeted retail investors with promises that he would keep their ‘digital assets’ safer than a bank, when in fact he used those assets to place risky bets and to line his own pockets,” US Attorney Jay Clayton said in the press release. “In the end, Mashinsky made tens of millions of dollars while his customers lost billions.”

You may also like

Uniswap is trapped in an innovation dilemma

The various iterations of Uniswap are one of the sources of vitality in the DeFi market, but since 2023, Uniswap has not proposed any substantial innovations, instead adhering to traditional business explorations in application chains, Launchpads, etc., leading to a slump in token prices and market ...

What is the key to competition in crypto banking?

Digital banks, crypto cards, wallets, super apps, and DeFi protocols are all converging towards the same goal: to become the primary gateway for your savings, spending, earning, and transferring in the new era.

The flow of stablecoins and the spillover effects in the foreign exchange market

Research has found that an exogenous increase in net inflows of stablecoins significantly widens the price deviation between stablecoins and traditional foreign exchange, leads to depreciation of the local currency, and worsens the financing conditions for synthetic dollars (i.e., increases the doll...

After two years, Hong Kong's first batch of stablecoin licenses finally issued: HSBC, Standard Chartered make the cut

The regulated entity is set to launch a stablecoin in the first half of this year.

The person who helped TAO rise by 90% has now single-handedly crashed the price again today

As long as people are around, the story continues. But once they're gone, you may not even find a worthy opponent to play against.

3-Minute Guide to Participating in the SpaceX IPO on Bitget

Bitget IPO Prime brings a rare opportunity for global users to participate in world-class unicorn IPOs, allowing ordinary users to equally access the potential economic benefits of top-tier IPOs.

Popular coins

Latest Crypto News

Read more