The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a lawsuit against crypto company Celsius and the company’s former CEO, Alex Mashinsky.
New Crypto Lawsuit from the SEC
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a lawsuit against the bankrupt crypto lending company Celsius and its former CEO, Alex Mashinsky.
Alex Mashinsky, the former CEO of #Celsius, has been arrested.
DOJ, SEC, CFTC, and FTC have sued Celsius and Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky.
— CoinOtag EN (@coinotagen) July 13, 2023
The SEC accuses Celsius and Mashinsky of fraudulently raising billions of dollars through the sale of “crypto asset securities” and engaging in unregistered sales. It alleges that Celsius consistently lied to investors about its financial condition and manipulated the price of the company’s native token, CEL.
In addition to the SEC, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the Federal Trade Commission have also filed lawsuits against Celsius and Alex Mashinsky.
Investigators at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission concluded that Celsius and Mashinsky violated U.S. regulations prior to the company’s collapse.
About a year ago, Celsius filed for bankruptcy, becoming one of the most prominent collapses in the crypto world and owing billions of dollars to investors. At one point, the crypto lending company had around $30 billion in assets. A court-appointed bankruptcy examiner’s report revealed that Celsius engaged in risky investment bets with customer funds.
In May, Mashinsky argued that the crypto products offered by Celsius were neither securities nor commodities.
