Alex Mashinsky

Tech hype comes in waves, and while the focus constantly changes (first crypto, then metaverse, and now AI), some things—like tech’s critics—remain the same. SEC Chair Gary Gensler has been the crypto community’s public enemy no. 1 for a few years now, but now he’s offering his somewhat caustic assessment on Silicon Valley’s latest heartthrob: artificial intelligence.Can AI Help with Mental Health?During a talk at the National Press Club conference on Monday, Gensler told the crowd that “AI may heighten financial…

The co-founder and former CEO of the defunct cryptocurrency exchange Celsius was arrested on fraud charges Thursday, Bloomberg reported.Crypto Exchanges Restrict WithdrawalsAlex Mashinsky, 57, was also charged with attempting to manipulate cryptocurrency markets, per Bloomberg. The Department of Justice accused Mashinsky and Roni Cohen-Pavon, Celsius’ chief revenue officer, of ​​a, “years long scheme to mislead customers,” according to Coindesk. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued the company and Mashinsky…

A court-appointed investigator said that Celsius’ ex-CEO Alex Mashinsky had sold over $68 million worth of the network’s native CEL token since 2018, all while the network was using customer funds to prop up CEL’s price.Photo: Kevin McGovern (Shutterstock)Before it eventually imploded, the crypto lender Celsius Network promised users it would not be any regular bank—no, it would be bigger than a bank—and users could “unbank” themselves by funneling some of their funds to Celsius. Users would gain interest while Celsius…

A bankruptcy judge has dashed the dreams of investors hoping to retrieve their crypto funds from Celsius. It turns out, assets placed in the now-defunct crypto exchange’s high interest “Earn Accounts” belong to Celsius, not the account holders, according to a Wednesday ruling from Judge Martin Glenn.The decision came down to an “unambiguous provision” in one section of Celsius’ terms of use, wrote the judge. “All right and title to such Eligible Digital Assets, including ownership rights,” is held by Celsius, said version…

Alex Mashinsky, the Celsius co-founder and former CEO who suspiciously cashed out $17 million in crypto prior to halting customers’ crypto withdraws and ahead of the company’s eventual bankruptcy, has found himself on the receiving end of a scathing civil lawsuit accusing him of defrauding hundreds of thousands investors out of billion of dollars by misrepresenting the shaky platform’s safety. The suit, filed Thursday by New York Attorney General Letitia James, alleges Mashinsky engaged in a years-long scheme to defraud…

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, arrives for the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing titled Annual Oversight of the Nations Largest Banks on September 22, 2022. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc (Getty Images)JPMorgan Chase has hired former Celsius executive Aaron Iovine to be the executive director of digital assets regulatory policy, according to Iovine’s LinkedIn profile. And if you’re looking for an easy answer as to how anyone could escape from the recent Celsius catastrophe…

Image: Artemenko Valentyn (Shutterstock)The biggest monetary losers from crypto lender Celsius’ demise are on full public display.A new search tool released over the weekend appears to sift through a recently released database of Celsius customer data and pulls together a video game styleleaderboard showing how much money they’ve lost since the firm filed for bankruptcy. The top three names reportedly lost $40.5 million, $38.2 million, and $26.4 million respectively. Celsius currently owes roughly $4.7 billion to users…

Celsius founder and recently resigned CEO Alex Mashinsky as he appeared in a promotional video for Celsius uploaded to YouTube. The video was deleted after the company imploded.Screenshot: YouTubeThree executives at crypto trading platform Celsius cashed out at least $40 million in cryptocurrency shortly before the company halted withdrawals for all users earlier this year, according to a financial disclosure form filed in New York bankruptcy court late Wednesday. The withdrawals by Celsius executives, first reported by…

The ongoing crypto winter has created quite a few “cold crypto” puns, but we hadn’t encountered any company actually saying they wanted to hit “absolute zero” until now.Image: Mike_O (Shutterstock)Kelvin, as a temperature scale, uses “absolute zero” as its baseline. That lowest conceived temperature would effectively stop all particle activity due to a lack of any semblance of energy. That point of temperature has never been achieved, but failed crypto firm Celsius seems to want to get as close as it can to “absolute…

Vermont regulators alleged that bankrupt crypto platform Celsius Network LLC, through its chief executive, Alex Mashinsky, made false and misleading claims to investors about the firm’s financial health even as it suffered huge losses. The court papers filed earlier this week cited an analysis by securities regulators from multiple states into Celsius’ preliminary internal financial records. The... Vermont regulators alleged that bankrupt crypto platform Celsius Network LLC, through its chief…