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Alex Mashinsky, founder and former CEO of Celsius Network, received a 12-year prison sentence for securities and commodities fraud on Thursday. US District Judge John Koeltl in Manhattan delivered the sentence, marking it as one of the most significant in the wake of the 2022 cryptocurrency market collapse.
Mashinsky’s guilty plea in December led to the sentencing. The case echoes the fraud conviction of Sam Bankman-Fried, the former head of the FTX exchange, who is currently serving a 25-year sentence and is pursuing an appeal. The legal actions against Mashinsky and Bankman-Fried highlight the severe consequences for fraudulent activities within the cryptocurrency industry and demonstrate a crackdown by authorities.
