Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky sentenced to 12 years for “unbank yourself” scam

Alex Mashinsky, former chief executive officer of Celsius Network Ltd., pled guilty to orchestrating a yearslong scheme to mislead customers about the financial health of his failing crypto lender and manipulate cryptocurrency prices for his own profits. Credit: Bloomberg / Contributor | Bloomberg

Alex Mashinsky—the disgraced founder of the Celsius Network cryptocurrency bank who deceived hundreds of thousands into losing billions with the catchy slogan "unbank yourself"—was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Thursday.

Back in December, Mashinsky pleaded guilty to securities fraud and commodities fraud. Federal prosecutors slammed him for reaping $48 million in profits while causing billions in investor losses by artificially inflating the value of his network's token, Cel. The Department of Justice and dozens of victims urged the court to order a maximum sentence of 20 years, while Mashinsky hoped the court would agree that he had shown remorse and should only serve one ...