Registration
 
All news
Top Stories
Editors' Picks
Crypto
Financial News
Currencies
Market Voices
Companies
Regulators
Central Banks
Mirjan Hipolito
Mirjan Hipolito

Alex Mashinsky pleads guilty to fraud charges, faces 30-year sentence

Alex Mashinsky pleads guilty to fraud charges, faces 30-year sentence
Mashinsky accused of losing $1.7 B in investor money

​On December 3, during a hearing in Manhattan District Court, former Celsius Network co-founder and CEO Alex Mashinsky pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud and market manipulation.

In July 2023, multiple U.S. government agencies, including the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), charged Mashinsky with seven criminal counts. 

At that time, he was taken into custody along with former Chief Revenue Officer Roni Cohen-Pavon, who had already pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with the investigation.

A neobank or a Ponzi scheme?

Alongside the FTX case, Celsius is part of a broader wave of cryptocurrency bankruptcies from 2022. Alex Mashinsky founded Celsius in 2017 during the ICO boom and marketed the company as a neobank with unlimited opportunities and virtually zero risks, offering clients up to 18% annual returns for depositing funds.

However, when the crypto market collapsed, the firm was unable to repay creditors and filed for bankruptcy protection. This did little to shield Mashinsky personally. Investigations revealed he was responsible for the loss of approximately $1.7 billion in customer funds.

According to CryptoSlate, the charges against the businessman, including fraud, conspiracy, and price manipulation of the Celsius (CEL) token, could result in a sentence of up to 30 years in prison. However, his guilty plea might be part of a strategy to seek a pardon from incoming President Donald Trump. Similar speculation has been made regarding FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

A federal judge has rejected former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky’s attempt to dismiss two of the seven criminal charges he faces in the United States. The charges relate to allegations of commodities fraud and manipulation of the Celsius (CEL) token price. In a Nov. 8 decision, Judge John Koeltl of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that the arguments presented by Mashinsky’s legal team were “either moot or without merit,” leaving all seven charges in place for Mashinsky’s trial set for January 2025.

This material may contain third-party opinions, none of the data and information on this webpage constitutes investment advice according to our Disclaimer. While we adhere to strict Editorial Integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners.

Editor's Picks for You

Shifting priorities: Governments back mining as businesses turn to AI
  • By Eugene Komchuk
  • 3 hours ago
Shifting priorities: Governments back mining as businesses turn to AI
Editors' Picks
Intel's comeback: Apple, Trump and the AI bet
  • By Mikhail Vnuchkov
  • Yesterday
Intel's comeback: Apple, Trump and the AI bet
Editors' Picks
Bitcoin price prediction based on RSI: Is BTC poised for a new rally?
  • By Oleg Tkachenko
  • 17.06.2026
Bitcoin price prediction based on RSI: Is BTC poised for a new rally?
Editors' Picks
All Editors' Top Picks
  • Eugene Komchuk
  • 3 hours ago
Shifting priorities: Governments back mining as businesses turn to AI
  • Mikhail Vnuchkov
  • Yesterday
Intel's comeback: Apple, Trump and the AI bet
  • Oleg Tkachenko
  • 17.06.2026
Bitcoin price prediction based on RSI: Is BTC poised for a new rally?
  • Anastasiia Chabaniuk
  • 16.06.2026
Toncoin becomes Gram: Why Durov restored token's original name
  • Kyle Torpey
  • 15.06.2026
Why Tether flipping Ethereum is a pivotal moment for crypto
  • Artem Shendetskii
  • 2 min ago
AI and energy sectors are leading market performance, Arpit Gupta notes
  • Daria Chernytska
  • 11 min ago
USDC and USDT earn 13.74% APY on Ethereum, Andre Cronje notes
  • Andreas Kristo
  • 12 min ago
Infosys, TCS, and Wipro face steep losses in recent months, Afzal Lokhandwala notes
  • Elena Nikulina
  • 12 min ago
Scott Redler: SPCX trend setup draws attention after reaching key moving averages
  • Andrey Mastykin
  • 16 min ago
James E. Thorne: S&P 500 posts nearly 22 percent earnings growth as profit cycle strengthens
Weekly Top Bonuses
up to $2,500
deposit bonus for all clients
CLAIM BONUS
Your capital is at risk.
Top News
  • Hanna Syniavska
  • 3 hours ago
U.S.-Iran talks postponed as truce outlook dims
U.S.-Iran talks postponed as truce outlook dims
  • Olga Shendetskaya
  • 3 hours ago
Oil gains after new U.S.-Iran talks are called off
Oil gains after new U.S.-Iran talks are called off
  • Igor Krasulya
  • 4 hours ago
Goldman Sachs revises gold forecast as Fed stays hawkish
Goldman Sachs revises gold forecast as Fed stays hawkish
  • Eugene Komchuk
  • 5 hours ago
Kalshi prepares for IPO amid revenue growth
Kalshi prepares for IPO amid revenue growth
  • Olga Shendetskaya
  • 21 hours ago
Goldman sees Warsh remarks as new risk for two-year Treasuries
Goldman sees Warsh remarks as new risk for two-year Treasuries
Live News
  • Anton Kharitonov
  • Now
WTI recovers after selloff as downside risks remain
  • Anton Kharitonov
  • Now
Natural gas maintains upward bias amid supply risks and seasonal demand
  • Anton Kharitonov
  • Now
EUR/USD updates local lows and tests key support
  • Mykhailo Ihnatenko
  • Now
Could Strategy become crypto's next black swan?
  • Mykhailo Ihnatenko
  • Now
Grifols launches FESILTY as investors weigh growth against debt concerns
Who We Are
Business Solutions
For Users
TU News
Popular Sections
Disclosures
CONTACT US
Legal
We are in Social Media
© IAFT Ltd., 2010-2026 All rights to the website are owned by IAFT Ltd.,
Registration number - HE 336186
  • Risk disclosure:

    Information on the TradersUnion.com website is for informational purposes only and does not constitute any motive or suggestion to visitors to invest money. Moreover, we hereby warn you that trading on the Forex and CFD markets is always a high risk. According to the statistics, 75-89% of customers lose the funds invested and only 11-25% of traders earn a profit. Trading in futures and options carries substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for every investor.

    That is why you should only invest money that you are prepared — or can afford — to lose at such high risks. Tradersunion.com does not provide any financial services, including investment or financial advisory services. Also, the Traders Union is not a broker and does not get money for trading in the Forex or CFD markets. Our website only provides information on brokers and the markets and helps its users to select the best brokerage company based on detailed information and objective analysis of brokers.

  • Disclaimer:

    Traders Union (TradersUnion.com) shall not be liable for the consequences of trading decisions made by the Client and for the possible loss of his capital resulting from the use of this website and information published on it.

    Forex market, CFD and cryptocurrency trading involves high risks and is not suitable for everyone. Before investing money, you need to adequately assess the level of your expertise and be aware of the risks, particularly in the context of trading with leverage. The information on this website is not intended for distribution or use by any person in any country or jurisdiction, where such distribution or use would be in violation of the local law or regulation. Any payments by Traders Union (TradersUnion.com) to the users of our website shall be legally interpreted solely as an incentive on our part for the activity on the website in the form of a deduction of a part of the advertising income; they shall not be a subject of any claims of our users or our obligations, a subject of disputes, as well as cannot be considered in relation to the services provided to users by brokers, both in fact and in their completeness and volume. The administration of the website shall not be liable for the content of user comments and reviews about the companies and shall not verify whether the authors of the reviews are indeed real clients of a specific company. All reviews, both negative and positive are published on the website without verification of their reliability; only offensive reviews that call for violence or any kind of discrimination and also reviews published from one group of IP addresses are moderated and removed. The authors of the materials shall be fully liable for the accuracy, completeness and impartiality of any information in the articles and reviews, including in the context of their use or mention of any brand names or trademarks. All mentions of the names of companies and their brands in any materials on the website shall be made in the context of communication of socially important information to the people about their activities by independent journalists, who are the authors. All evaluations and indicators on the website express the subjective opinion of the authors of the reviews (articles) and shall not be viewed as accurate statements and be a subject of disputes and claims against Traders Union.

  • Disclosure of advertisers and revenues:

    All the services on the Tradersunion.com website are free for you to use. Our team spends thousands of hours per annum researching brokers and gathering information about them to help investors all over the world to choose reliable companies and to avoid fraudsters.

    Indeed, the curating, sourcing, and organization of this process requires substantial financial investment by Tradersunion.com, which the website earns in the form of advertising payments. There are two types of advertising services on the website — direct advertising or partner (broker) participation programs. However, no services purchased by our partners shall affect the recommendations on our website, or our opinions, or ratings. Our ratings are based on our objective rating criteria and methodology; and the results are always equally and fairly applied to each broker. The work of our content authors and research groups does not involve any interaction with our advertisers and they do not have access to data concerning the amount of advertising purchased. For over 10 years we consider our independence, absolute openness, and objectivity as our main priority. Please follow the links to each of our affiliated broker’s websites. This will help Tradersunion.com to continue to provide our services to you for free.

onepercentfortheplanet.org World Association of News Publishers https://gdpr.eu/ GDPR