Celsius Network
Summary
Celsius Network was a crypto lending and yield platform founded in 2017 by Alex Mashinsky that promised depositors interest rates as high as 18.6% APY under the slogan 'Unbank Yourself.' On June 12, 2022, Celsius froze all withdrawals without warning, trapping approximately $4.7 billion in customer funds; it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 13, 2022, revealing a $1.2 billion hole in its balance sheet. Mashinsky was arrested on federal fraud charges in July 2023, pleaded guilty to commodities fraud and token price manipulation in December 2024, and was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison on May 8, 2025.
Community submissions
— Abdera
Timeline(17 events)
2017-01-01
Celsius Network founded by Alex Mashinsky, Daniel Leon, and Nuke Goldstein
2018-03-01
Celsius conducts ICO for CEL token, raising approximately $50 million
2018-04-01
CEL token begins trading on cryptocurrency exchanges
2021-06-01
StakeHound discloses loss of private keys to staked ETH; Celsius loses at least 35,000 ETH (~$50M) but does not disclose this to customers
2021-12-01
BadgerDAO hack; Celsius loses approximately $22 million and later forfeits restitution payments
2022-05-01
Terra/Luna ecosystem collapses; Celsius withdraws $535M+ from Anchor Protocol; weekly platform outflows begin exceeding inflows
2022-06-10
Blockchain analysts identify Celsius's large stETH exposure; stETH begins trading at a discount to ETH
2022-06-12
Celsius freezes all withdrawals, swaps, and transfers citing 'extreme market conditions,' trapping approximately $4.7 billion in customer funds
2022-06-15
Three Arrows Capital fails to meet margin calls; broader crypto lending contagion accelerates
2022-07-01
Celsius lays off approximately 150 employees (roughly 25% of workforce)
2022-07-13
Celsius files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York, disclosing a $1.2 billion deficit
2023-05-01
Celsius completes court-supervised auction; Fahrenheit LLC consortium selected as winning bidder
2023-07-13
DOJ arrests Alex Mashinsky on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy; SEC, CFTC, and FTC simultaneously file civil actions; FTC reaches $4.7 billion settlement with Celsius
2023-11-09
U.S. Bankruptcy Court confirms Celsius reorganization plan; approximately 98% of account holders vote in favor
2024-01-31
Celsius emerges from bankruptcy and begins distributing over $3 billion in cryptocurrency and fiat to creditors; Ionic Digital (Bitcoin mining) created as creditor-owned entity
2024-12-03
Alex Mashinsky pleads guilty to commodities fraud and CEL token price manipulation; agrees to forfeit $48 million
2025-05-08
U.S. District Judge John Koeltl sentences Mashinsky to 12 years in federal prison, plus $48.4 million forfeiture, in the Southern District of New York
Decision Log
- hash: AK8zZvyNZasJYk3eeZy7qKFqyz6om9YtPYQMieWYRsh9
- hash: F4iDvExJ6rWRfekefZo3r26N9UmbdUE92Jvz3rENSDtL
- hash: 98Uz8Ge77NjxEgsXzb8TnRuqdCycN1JoUCXgCeLY1p8e
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain and source URLs are archived via the Internet Archive.
model: claude-code-investigator
generated: 5/6/2026, 3:54:36 AM
last updated: 5/14/2026, 6:01:53 AM
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