- Former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky withdrew $10 million in the lead up to Celsius’ closure
- Mashinsky took the money out while telling others it was fine to put money into the company
- A spokesperson said he took out the money to pay taxes
Former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky withdrew $10 million from the lending platform in the weeks leading up to the firm shutting its doors, the Financial Times revealed over the weekend. The newspaper cites “people familiar with the matter” as saying that Mashinsky was pulling money out of the company in May this year while at the same time arguing with critics that Celsius was in a strong financial position and urging people not to believe the FUD. Celsius is due to submit details of Mashinsky’s transactions in the coming days as part of a broader disclosure by the company of its financial affairs.
Mashinsky’s Fall From Grace Keeps Going
Mashinsky has experienced a turnaround in fortunes bettered in speed only by Do Kwon, going from hero to villain at lightning speed. In May he was the man standing strong in the face of criticism over Celsius’s financial position and galvanising his followers to fight the FUD.
However, the Financial Times says that while he was doing this he was taking millions of dollars out of the company for reasons not yet disclosed, although funding an inevitable lawsuit would seem to be the most logical reason.
Money Withdrawn to “Pay Taxes”
A spokesperson for Mashinky told the Financial Times that the Israeli-American “withdrew a percentage of cryptocurrency in his account, much of which was used to pay state and federal taxes”, adding that in the months prior he “consistently deposited cryptocurrency in amounts that totalled what he withdrew in May.”
Unsurprisingly, Mashinsky’s actions didn’t go down well with his out-of-pocket customers:
Will @CelsiusNetwork let me do a withdraw to pay taxes? What about to pay my mortgage? How about to buy gas and food? Nope!
— Robert (@JRBXYWOLF) October 2, 2022
Mashinsky was a stand up guy is a meme that don’t run anymore. The best you can do is claim he had good intentions but so what. I went to the bank & tried to withdraw my decades of savings with a note from Alex saying Good Intentions. Guess how much they gave me. Yes exactly.
— Fifty Six (@peterstav56) October 2, 2022
No doubt the transactions will be pored over when they are released to the court, placing Mashinsky under even more scrutiny.
