Alex Mashinsky, the 59-year-old founder of cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network, has pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud in a US court. He was initially charged with seven counts of fraud, conspiracy, and market manipulation charges after a slump in crypto prices in 2022 led to several companies collapsing.
Mashinsky admitted to misleading Celsius customers by giving false information about the company’s “Earn” program and artificially inflating the value of its proprietary token, CEL. He also failed to disclose his own sales of CEL holdings, which generated approximately $42 million in proceeds.
As part of his plea deal, Mashinsky agreed not to appeal any sentence of 30 years or less. The case highlights the consequences faced by those involved in the cryptocurrency sector during a period of significant price volatility and regulatory scrutiny.
The guilty pleas from Mashinsky and Celsius’s former chief revenue officer Roni Cohen-Pavon come after several other high-profile cases, including Sam Bankman-Fried, who was convicted of stealing $8 billion from FTX customers.
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/3/celsius-founder-alex-mashinsky-pleads-guilty-to-two-fraud-counts