Celsius Investors Allege Wash Trading: Crypto Controversy Unfolds

• Wintermute Trading Ltd. has been accused of helping former Celsius Network Ltd. CEO Alex Mashinsky defraud investors in the now-bankrupt crypto lending firm.
• Plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Mashinsky have restructured their case to include Wintermute, alleging the market maker contributed to Celsius’s collapse through “wash trading” practices.
• Wintermute is also accused of engaging in other improper activities to inflate the value of Celsius’s local CEL token and credit products since March 2021.

Wintermute Trading Ltd., one of the largest cryptocurrency market makers, has been accused of aiding former Celsius Network Ltd. CEO Alex Mashinsky in defrauding investors in the now-bankrupt crypto lending firm.

Allegations Against Market Maker by Celsius Investors

The lawsuit against former Celsius Network CEO Alex Mashinsky has been restructured to include Wintermute Trading Ltd. In addition to Mashinsky, who is accused of defrauding investors in the bankrupt crypto lending firm, Wintermute has also been added as a defendant.

According to the lawsuit, Wintermute contributed to Celsius’s collapse through practices known as “wash trading,” which create the illusion that an asset is being traded more frequently than it actually is. Furthermore, Wintermute has allegedly engaged in other improper activities to inflate the value of Celsius’s local CEL token and credit products since March 2021. Investors claim that Wintermute made efforts to support CEL following the collapse of Terra and Luna tokens.

The lawsuit alleges that Wintermute manipulated CEL token prices and trading volumes through sudden trading activities in a strategic pattern to deceive. Celsius froze all accounts in June 2022 and filed for bankruptcy a month later. These events led to a significant collapse in the industry, causing many investors to suffer substantial losses.