Celsius Founder Alex Mashinsky Pleads Guilty to Fraud Charges

Mashinsky admitted to misleading investors and manipulating Celsius’s proprietary token, facing up to 30 years in prison.

Alex Mashinsky, former CEO of Celsius Network, pleaded guilty to two charges: commodities fraud and manipulating the price of the platform's CEL token.
Mashinsky admitted to misleading customers about Celsius's regulatory status and secretly profiting $42–48 million by selling his CEL holdings at inflated prices.
Celsius, which once managed $25 billion in assets, collapsed in 2022 after the crypto market downturn and filed for bankruptcy, freezing $4.7 billion in customer funds.
Mashinsky agreed to forfeit $48 million and will not appeal any sentence of 30 years or less, with sentencing scheduled for April 8, 2025.
The Celsius collapse was part of a broader crypto industry crisis in 2022, which also saw the downfall of FTX and other major firms, leading to increased regulatory scrutiny.