Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky freed on bail, pleads not guilty

Alex Mashinsky’s $40 million bail is secured by his Manhattan residence

article-image

Web Summit, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified by Blockworks

share

Hours after being arrested on Thursday, Celsius’ founder and former CEO Alex Mashinsky pleaded not guilty to charges of misleading customers and inflating the CEL token. 

The CFTC, FTC and SEC filed lawsuits against Celsius and Mashinsky on the same day, while the Department of Justice charged him with seven counts including securities and wire fraud.

US Magistrate Judge Ona Wang approved his release on a $40 million bond, according to Reuters.

The personal recognizance bond is secured by his Manhattan residence and the signatures of his wife and a second person, according to a court document filed Thursday. His travel is limited to the Eastern and Southern District of New York.

During his arraignment at Manhattan federal court, Mashinsky reportedly appeared without handcuffs, wearing a gray polo shirt and jeans. 

Blockworks has reached out to Mashinsky’s attorneys Benjamin Alee and Jonathan Ohring for comment.

Ohring told Blockworks that Mashinsky “vehemently denies the allegations brought yesterday. He looks forward to vigorously defending himself in court against these baseless charges.”

Indictment reveals Mashinsky’s promotional tactics for Celsius 

Founded in 2017, Celsius filed for bankruptcy in July 2022 as customers hurried to withdraw funds amidst falling crypto prices. However, many customers are still unable to access their deposits. 

Prosecutors claim that between 2018 and 2022, Mashinsky deceived investors about core aspects of Celsius’ business.

The SEC accuses Mashinsky and Celsius of promoting the platform as safe, akin to a modern-day bank, while engaging in risky strategies to deliver high returns of up to 17% through the Earn Interest Program.

Despite significant losses and withdrawal pressures, regulators claim that Mashinsky and Celsius falsely maintained the platform’s financial security and ability to meet withdrawal demands. 

The indictment reveals Mashinsky’s promotion of Celsius through media interviews, Twitter and regular “Ask Mashinsky Anything” sessions on the website and YouTube.

In addition to the recent charges, New York Attorney General Letitia James previously sued Mashinsky in state court, accusing him of misleading thousands of investors, including 26,000 New Yorkers.

Updated July 14, 2023 at 7:42 am ET: Added comment from Mashinsky’s attorney.


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

Research Report Templates.png

Research

Maple Finance has successfully navigated significant market challenges through its strategic pivot to secured lending (Maple v2) and the launch of its Syrup product. Syrup has become a primary growth driver, delivering sustainable, outperforming stablecoin yields and rapidly increasing TVL. The upcoming custody-first Bitcoin staking product (istBTC) presents another significant avenue for expansion. Crucially, Maple has achieved operational profitability, a key inflection point that, combined with a fully vested token and active buyback mechanism, strengthens its investment case. While valuation metrics suggest potential undervaluation relative to peers and growth, the primary forward-looking risk identified is the long-term sustainability of its current high-take-rate collateral staking revenue model.

article-image

Sponsored

Instead of endless wallet popups, users could connect once, set clear rules, and delegate permission to an app or to an AI agent.

article-image

Prediction markets show that people bet in anticipation of things happening far too often

article-image

The agency’s final deadline is in October

article-image

Higher inflation historically lags behind tariff implementation, so don’t celebrate just yet

article-image

VanEck launches its first tokenized fund after financial giants convene at SEC roundtable

article-image

The “GameFi” platform that began its development while part of Zynga is launching another NFT collection