Celsius’ Top Brass Redeemed Millions Weeks Before Bankruptcy

Co-founders Alex Mashinsky and Dan Leon withdrew around $10 million each before the platform’s controversial transfer halt, new documents show

article-image

Source: Shutterstock

share

key takeaways

  • Celsius’ court disclosure follows resignations from Mashinsky and Leon
  • Several other executives made no significant withdrawals around the same time, transaction details showed

The highest-ranking executives at bankrupt lender Celsius withdrew more than $15 million combined before the platform’s withdrawal freeze on June 12.

A statement of financial affairs submitted to court on Wednesday detailed Celsius co-founders Alex Mashinsky and Dan Leon’s financial actions in the days leading up to the lender’s transfer halt.

The executives made multiple withdrawals and internal account transfers around late May, including cryptoassets including bitcoin, ether and the platform’s native CEL token, documents running into more than 14,000 pages showed.

Mashinsky’s withdrawals were in the amount of $10 million, in line with what the Financial Times earlier reported. Leon’s withdrawals amounted to $7 million, in addition to CEL tokens worth $4 million.

Blockworks earlier reported that CTO Nuke Goldstein withdrew $13 million. But lawyers for the executive pointed out that he moved his funds within accounts on Celsius, involving corresponding deposits.

“Indeed, in the year before the pause, Mr. Goldstein had net positive deposits into Celsius (including interest), not withdrawals,” they wrote.

The Celsius bankruptcy case’s latest development follows the resignations of both Mashinsky and Leon. Mashinsky has said he was “very sorry” about the financial difficulties customers face. Meanwhile, Leon provided no public statement about his departure.

Other Celsius insiders including Chief Compliance Officer Oren Blonstein, Global Head of Business Processes Adrian Alisie, former Chief Financial Officer Rod Bolger and General Counsel Ron Deutsch did not carry out significant withdrawal transactions, according to the documents.

Since the lender’s bankruptcy, a group representing the company’s unsecured creditors has been investigating the key players who held decision-making authority. Upon the release of the lengthy documents, the committee said it would “carefully review the voluminous disclosures, which will inform key next steps for the process.”

The lender is currently looking to auction its assets, with a final bid deadline set for Oct. 17.  FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who recently secured a $1.4 billion buyout for Voyager, is reportedly eyeing Celsius’ assets.

Celsius didn’t return Blockworks’ request for comment by press time.

This article corrected Goldstein’s transaction details on Oct. 6 at 11:54 pm ET.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

REPORT_Template.png

Research

The Sonic blockchain is leveraging redesigned airdrop incentives and its FeeM program to propel DeFi activity and attract institutional capital, setting the stage for ecosystem growth. Within this environment, leading protocols Shadow Exchange and Silo are poised to asymmetrically benefit due to innovative features and favorable valuations, despite facing ecosystem dependency and competitive pressures. This positions them as compelling, potentially shorter-term, investment opportunities contingent on Sonic's sustained success.

article-image

Bitcoin needs a price, but its magic runs deeper

article-image

Circle had a pretty successful first day of trading, but what’s next for the stablecoin issuer?

article-image

Solana’s USDC caught a boost after being paired with the TRUMP memecoin

article-image

The stablecoin issuer’s successful first day of trading is likely to spur more crypto IPOs, industry watchers say

article-image

Job openings rallied and continuing claims stalled ahead of May’s employment report

article-image

A group of Twitch streamers battle for bitcoin. Will their chats help them?