Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky Made Over $60 Million from Token Sales in Alleged Ponzi Scheme

By Tsunami On Feb 14, 2023

Celsius Network’s former CEO Alex Mashinsky reportedly made over $60 million from the sales of Celsius tokens, according to a court-appointed independent examiner. The news comes as blockchain analytical firm Peckshield reports that a wallet linked to Mashinsky sold 90,000 Celsius tokens for $480,000. These tokens came from wallet “0x4833,” which had received them directly from Celsius Network Wallet four years ago.

#PeckShieldAlert Alex Mashinsky-labeled address sold 90k $CEL for 480k $USDC in the past 4 days & transferred them to Coinbase (w/ $474.7k)
These $CEL originated from 0x4833, which received 90k $CEL (valued at $5.3k on the day of transfer) from Celsius Network Wallet 4 years ago pic.twitter.com/n0uJMlVmhp

— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) February 14, 2023

These sales have had a negative impact on CEL tokens, which have dropped by about 4% in the last 24 hours to $0.51774 at press time, according to CoinMarketCap data.

The report from the independent examiner also suggests that Mashinsky and other top executives of the bankrupt firm had benefited from the sales of CEL tokens, and that Celsius had used its customer funds to prop up its token, operating like a Ponzi scheme.

Mashinsky has faced multiple allegations of wrongdoing since his resignation from the firm in September 2022. Reports suggest that he withdrew $10 million from the firm a few weeks before it froze customer funds and filed for bankruptcy, and he has been accused of defrauding investors and misleading customers.

This news is likely to raise serious concerns among Celsius Network customers and investors, and could have wider implications for the broader cryptocurrency industry. It remains to be seen how Celsius Network will respond to these latest allegations, and what impact they will have on the future of the firm.

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