In summary
- Alex Mashinsky, former CEO of Celsius, will plead guilty to federal fraud related to price manipulation of the CEL token.
- The trial was scheduled for January 2025, but Mashinsky opted to plead guilty to two federal charges at a court hearing.
- Celsius, which filed for bankruptcy in 2022, faced accusations of misleading customers about the security of its platform.
Alex Mashinsky, founder and former CEO of collapsed Cryptocurrency lender Celsius, will plead guilty to federal fraud charges in the United States, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
Mashinsky reportedly said in a court hearing that he would plead guilty to two of the seven fraud charges brought against him: commodities fraud and conspiracy to manipulate the price of the firm’s CEL token.
The disgraced crypto founder’s trial was scheduled to begin on January 28, 2025, after a motion by his lawyers to dismiss two charges was denied by US District Judge John Koeltl in November.
“I know what I did was wrong, and I want to try to do everything I can to remedy it,” Mashinsky said in court Tuesday.
Celsius filed for bankruptcy in July 2022, a month after stopping all customer withdrawals. In July 2023, Mashinsky was indicted for allegedly fraudulent profits of $40 million at the expense of Celsius clients.
The popular cryptocurrency firm allowed users to take out loans using their digital coins and tokens as collateral, and claimed to manage more than $25 billion in assets at its peak.
But it all fell apart — along with numerous other cryptocurrency companies — following the collapse of mega crypto project Terra in 2022 and the brutal crypto winter that followed.
After Celsius went bankrupt and filed for bankruptcy, regulators and law enforcement alleged that Mashinsky and his company lied to customers about how secure the platform was, in addition to selling unregistered securities.
Mashinsky and his co-defendants “falsely promoted Celsius as a safe alternative to banking — even though the opposite was true,” the Federal Trade Commission alleged last year.
The U.S. Department of Justice alleged that Mashinsky misled the public about how well his company was performing “near its inception,” according to an indictment.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
Editor’s note: The article was updated after publication with additional details.
Daily Debrief Newsletter
Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.
For the Latest Crypto News, Follow ©KeynoteUSA on Twitter Or Google News.
Disclaimer: Please note that the information provided on this page is for News purposes only and should not be considered investment or trading advice. ©Crypto.keynoteusa.com strongly recommends that you conduct independent research and/or consult with a qualified professional before making any investment decisions.
