Former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky Seeks 1-Year Sentence, Rejects DOJ’s 20-Year Demand

By: bitcoin ethereum news|2025/05/07 01:30:02

Alex Mashinsky, the former CEO of the collapsed crypto lender Celsius Network, is pushing back against what he calls a “venom-laced” effort by federal prosecutors to secure a 20-year sentence—a term his lawyers say would amount to a “death-in-prison” punishment. In a May 5 court filing, Mashinsky’s legal team asked the New York district court to impose a sentence of no more than 366 days, arguing that his conduct does not warrant the harsh penalty sought by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Mashinsky, 59, pleaded guilty in December 2024 to commodities fraud and market manipulation. He admitted to making $48 million from the sale of CEL tokens ahead of Celsius’ collapse in June 2022. Prosecutors allege he orchestrated a long-running scheme to deceive and defraud thousands of retail investors, many of whom lost their life savings. The DOJ’s sentencing memo, filed on April 28, accused Mashinsky of leading a “predatory campaign rooted in greed,” deliberately targeting “everyday people” and causing widespread financial harm. The department is pushing for a 20-year sentence to reflect the severity and scope of the misconduct. In response , Mashinsky’s lawyers painted a more nuanced portrait of the former tech entrepreneur. They cited his family’s history as Soviet Jewish refuseniks, his military service in the Israeli Defense Forces, and his three-decade business career, including work in regulated industries, as mitigating factors. “The government’s submission disregards that Alex is a real-life person with complexities, subtleties and nuances,” the defense wrote, “and instead takes a black-and-white, blunt and reductive approach to describe his conduct in savage and primal terms.” Mashinsky’s sentencing is scheduled for May 8 in New York. Reporter at Coindoo Kosta has been a part of the team since 2021 and has solidified his position with a thirst for knowledge, incredible dedication to his work and a “detective-like” mindset. He not only covers a wide range of trending topics, he also creates reviews, PR articles and educational content. His work has also been referenced by other news outlets. Related stories Next article !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,document,'script','https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js');fbq('init','1188189499475368');fbq('track','PageView'); Source: https://coindoo.com/former-celsius-ceo-alex-mashinsky-seeks-1-year-sentence-rejects-dojs-20-year-demand/

OpenClaw is a rapidly growing open-source AI agent that can autonomously execute tasks and interact with software, including connecting to crypto exchanges through APIs to analyze markets and automate trading strategies. While this creates new opportunities for smarter trading, it also introduces security and operational risks. Through this article, WEEX aims to help users better understand the potential and risks of AI trading agents so they can explore new technologies while trading more safely and responsibly.

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WEEX P2P update: Country/region restrictions for ad posting

I. Overview

When publishing P2P ads, advertisers can now set the following:

Allow only counterparties from selected countries or regions to trade with your ads.

With this feature, you can:

Target specific user groups more precisely.Reduce cross-region trading risks.Improve order matching quality.

II. Applicable scenarios

The following are some common scenarios:

III. How to get started

On the ad posting page, find "Trading requirements":

When an advertiser enables the "Country/Region Restriction" feature, users who do not meet the criteria will be blocked when placing an order and will see the following prompt:

If you encounter this issue when placing an order as a regular user, try the following solutions.

IV. Benefits

Compared with ads without country/region restrictions, this feature provides the following improvements.

Aspect

Improvement

Trading security

Reduces abnormal orders and fraud risk

Conversion efficiency

Matches ads with more relevant users

Order completion rate

Reduces failures caused by incompatible payment methods

V. FAQ

Q1: Why are some users not able to place orders on my ad?
A1: Their country or region may not be included in your allowlist.

Q2: Can I select multiple countries or regions when setting the restriction?
A2: Yes, multiple selections are supported.

Q3: Can I edit my published ads?
A3: Yes. You can edit your ad in the "My Ads" list. Changes will take effect immediately after saving.