The former CEO of Celsius Network, Alexander Mashinsky, was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Thursday after pleading guilty to commodities fraud and manipulating the Celsius token. Once hailed as a pioneer in decentralized finance, Mashinsky now joins a growing list of disgraced crypto executives, including FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried and Binance’s Changpeng Zhao, who have faced criminal charges. Prosecutors accused Mashinsky of misleading investors while secretly selling millions in personal holdings, contributing to Celsius’s collapse and a $4.7 billion settlement with the FTC. His sentencing marks the end of a years-long fraud case that drew charges from multiple federal agencies.
