Ponzi probe finds bankrupt crypto lender Celsius wasn't doing business the way it told customers

Tue, 01/31/2023 - 07:56

alex mashinsky celsius — Alex Mashinsky pushed Celsius into increasingly risky loans in a bid to maintain high rewards, the filing argues.
Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile for Web Summit via Getty Images

Celsius misled customers when it advertised its business model, a court-appointed examiner said.
The crypto lender filed for bankruptcy in June as the market collapsed.
Examiner Shoba Pillay said the lender was making the market for its CEL coin by buying it.

Celsius, the bankrupt cryptocurrency lending company, misled customers and marketed itself as a different company from how it operated, a court-appointed examiner has said in a detailed probe into allegations that the group ran a Ponzi scheme.

In a Tuesday filing linked to Celsius Network LLC's Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, former prosecutor Shoba Pillay lamented Celsius's use of risky investments and its role in "making the market" for its collapsed native coin CEL.