Alex Mashinsky
Alex Mashinsky is the Founder and former CEO of Celsius Network, the now bankrupt cryptocurrency lending platform. Mashinsky and his firm face lawsuits from the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Federal Trade Commission. He resigned as CEO in September 2022 and was indicted on seven felony counts in July 2023, including securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud. He is also accused of misleading Celsius customers about the company's business, including how it would use their money, while depicting the lender as a bank when in fact it operated as a risky investment fund, according to the indictment. Prior to the controversy, Mashinsky was considered a leader in the technology industry. He is a serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist who founded seven New York City-based startups, raising more than $1 billion and exiting over $3 billion.
Alex Mashinsky Professional Experience / Academic History
Professional Experience
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Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Academic History
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BS, Economics
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BE, Electrical Engineering, Type 1
THE RISE & FALL OF CELSIUS NETWORK
Founded in 2018, Celsius rose to prominence as a kind of crypto bank that promised customers sky-high interest rates.
At its peak, Celsius controlled about $25 billion in crypto assets. The firm's collapse highlighted significant risks and regulatory gaps in the crypto industry.
Celsius was among the many crypto firms that filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. in 2022 amid a market downturn, including BlockFi and FTX.
The FTC announced a $4.7 billion settlement against the exchange, which will not be paid until creditors and investors have been repaid in bankruptcy proceedings.
Celsius’ settlement is one of the largest in the FTC’s history, close to the record $5 billion fine levied against Meta in 2019, and highlights what the FTC described as repeated deceptions by Celsius and Mashinsky.
Mashinsky pleaded not guilty in Manhattan federal court. If convicted, Mashinsky and a co-defendant, Roni Cohen-Pavon, face decades in prison.
TECH CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Mashinsky’s career has spanned several industries, often focusing on emerging technologies.
He founded two of New York City’s top 10 venture-backed exits since 2000: Arbinet, with a 2004 IPO that had a market capitalization of over $750 million; and Transit Wireless, valued at $1.2 billion.
He was an early developer of VOIP and founded VoiceSmart in the early 1990s.
He established Arbinet in 1996, a VoIP telephone service marketplace. In 2005, after selling his stake in Arbinet, he founded GroundLink, a limousine and car service booking platform.
He also played a significant role in forming Transit Wireless, which brought wireless and Wi-Fi services to the New York City Subway.
He served on the board of Novatel and later as CEO, focusing on Wi-Fi hotspot products. He also held a brief stint as Global CEO of RTX, a London-based fintech firm.
As one of the pioneers of web-based exchanges, he authored patents that cover aspects of the Smart Grid, ad exchanges, Twitter, Skype, App Store, Netflix streaming concept and many other popular web companies.