🚨🚨 FRAUD-STAR DETAINED 🗣📢

Alex Mashinsky, the founder and former CEO of Celsius Network, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison. This follows his guilty plea in December 2024 to charges of securities and commodities fraud.

Mashinsky admitted to misleading customers about the safety of their investments and manipulating the price of Celsius's native token, CEL, for personal gain. He profited over $48 million from these activities before the company's collapse in 2022 .

Celsius Network was a prominent player in the centralized finance (CeFi) sector of the cryptocurrency industry.

CeFi platforms operated similarly to traditional banks, where users deposit their cryptocurrencies and earn interest. These platforms manage user funds centrally, offering services like lending and borrowing. Unlike decentralized finance (DeFi), where transactions occur directly between users via smart contracts, CeFi relies on a central authority to manage operations.

Celsius promised high returns on crypto deposits, attracting a significant user base. However, during the 2022 crypto market downturn, the platform faced liquidity issues and filed for bankruptcy, leaving many customers unable to access their funds.