- The Department of Justice has requested a 20-year prison term for Mashinsky, emphasizing that his actions were deliberate and not a result of negligence.
- Despite pleading guilty, Mashinsky still refuses to take full responsibility for his fraudulent acts, shifting blame to external factors while personally profiting $48 million from the scheme.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has requested that the founder of Celsius, Alex Mashinsky, serve a 20-year prison sentence because they believe that his actions didn’t come as a result of negligence or market misfortune but rather a series of calculated and deliberate decisions to lie. Their decision underscored the gravity of his offenses and the damage he inflicted on investors.
One of the co-founders of the collapsed crypto platform, Alex Mashinsky, could spend 20 years in prison if the U.S. Department of Justice gets its way. In a memo filed on the 28th of April, the DOJ asked the court to give him a strong sentence for his role in the platform’s fraud.
According to them, his actions were not a mistake but instead a purposeful act to scam users. This mistake caused around $7 billion in damage and hurt thousands of people. After Celsius froze withdrawals in June 2022, users lost access to about $4.7 billion in combined crypto assets. The DOJ described Mashinsky’s behavior as a long-running scheme driven by greed and deception.
Mashinsky’s Guilty Plea and Refusal to Take Responsibility
Mashinsky, who admitted guilt in December 2024, misled users about the security of their money and secretly manipulated the CEL token to make a profit.
Despite confessing to the court, he still avoids taking complete responsibility for his actions but instead points fingers at outside forces, including officials, the market, and even the people he stole from. Prosecutors said his actions were not mistakes or poor judgment but clear plans to cheat and steal for personal gain.
He made at least $48 million for himself after causing over $500 million in damage. When the company was still in operation, it claimed to have managed $20 billion in crypto, but behind the scenes, it took big risks, used customer funds to pump token prices, and gave ‘hodl-ers’ false promises.
Although he told investors he was holding CEL tokens, he had actually sold the tokens for millions at its peak. The DOJ wants Mashinsky’s punishment to match the damage done and warn others in the crypto world.
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