Key Takeaways:
- Ex-Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky will begin a 12-year prison sentence on Friday for making false statements about the company’s Earn Program.
- Mashinsky’s sentence comes after Celsius collapsed in 2022 and later exited bankruptcy in 2024, returning $3 billion to creditors.
- He is among several top crypto executives, including Sam Bankman-Fried and Do Kwon, who have faced major legal consequences.
Former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky is set to begin serving a 12-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to multiple felony charges.
Court documents confirm he must report by Friday to the Federal Prison Camp in Otisville, New York, a minimum-security facility.
[COURT DOCUMENT] Former Celsius CEO to Begin 12-Year Prison Term This Week Following Fraud Conviction$CEL
— BecauseBitcoin.com (@BecauseBitcoin) September 8, 2025
Mashinsky admitted in December to making false statements about Celsius’s Earn Program.
He was initially indicted on seven charges in July 2023 but reached a plea deal on two counts when his legal team failed to dismiss key allegations, including commodities fraud and manipulation of the Celsius (CEL) token.
Celsius, once a major crypto lender alongside FTX, collapsed during the 2022 market downturn triggered by the Terra ecosystem’s failure.
The company filed for bankruptcy in July 2022, with Mashinsky resigning shortly after.
In January 2024, Celsius exited bankruptcy and began returning around $3 billion to creditors, while Mashinsky relinquished all claims to the firm.
His former chief revenue officer, Roni Cohen-Pavon, also pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing later this month.
Mashinsky joins other fallen crypto executives facing prison time, including Sam Bankman-Fried, Changpeng Zhao, and Do Kwon, marking another major chapter in crypto’s ongoing legal reckoning.
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