Alex Mashinsky, founder of bankrupt crypto lender Celsius, arrested and charged with fraud
Alex Machinsky, the founder of bankrupt crypto lender Celsius, has been arrested and charged with multiple counts of fraud. Machinsky, alongside Celsius’s chief revenue officer Roni Cohen-Pavon and other employees, is accused of perpetrating two schemes involving CEL, the native asset of the crypto broker, to defraud customers.
The key points of the content are:
- Machinsky misled customers by promising a “modern-day bank” where they can earn interest on deposited crypto assets, but instead made risky trades with their funds.
- Machinsky and other employees manipulated the price of CEL, causing the public to purchase it at an inflated price, benefiting the defendants.
- The defendants are charged with wire fraud, commodities fraud, securities fraud, and market manipulation.
- Machinsky is also being sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for lying to customers and offering unregistered securities.
- Investors were left unable to withdraw billions of dollars in crypto assets from Celsius’s online platform.
Hot Take: The arrest and charges against Alex Machinsky, founder of Celsius, highlight the risks and fraudulent activities that can occur in the cryptocurrency industry. It serves as a reminder for investors to exercise caution and do thorough research before trusting their funds with any platform or individual.