UPDATE: Did Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky Get Caught Trying To Flee The Country?
• June 27, 2022 8:56 pm • CommentsThis is a breaking news story…scroll down for the latest updates.
An interesting story is developing about Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky.
Reports are coming out that he attempted to flee the country but was apprehended at the airport.
Trending: Jed McCaleb…and Bill Clinton?
NOTE: We cannot verify those reports at this time, and accordingly we are not reporting it as fact, but here’s what we know so far…
First, he’s gone radio-silent: Mashinsky has not tweeted since June 15 after Celsius froze all withdrawals.
This was his last communication:
@CelsiusNetwork team is working non-stop. We’re focused on your concerns and thankful to have heard from so many. To see you come together is a clear sign our community is the strongest in the world. This is a difficult moment; your patience and support mean the world to us.
— Alex Mashinsky (@Mashinsky) June 15, 2022
ProCoinNews was on the Celsius story the day before the news of the funds freeze broke.
This is what we Tweeted on June 11:
BREAKING: @CelsiusNetwork logins halted for many.
Implosion imminet? #NotYourKeysNotYourCrypto pic.twitter.com/T2WrMeh5Dy
— ProCoinNews (@ProCoinNews) June 11, 2022
After we personally were unable to login, we started asking questions.
Because that’s what journalists do.
Mashinsky himself responded to that Tweet saying “don’t create FUD”:
Don’t create FUD. It’s an external vendor issue.
Will be resolved soon. If it works for most people it’s not a Celsius issue.— Alex Mashinsky (@Mashinsky) June 11, 2022
He responded again later that day saying all services were back up and it was “probably just an attack by the same people shorting CEL”:
All our services are back up, it was probably an attack by the same people shorting CEL.
— Alex Mashinsky (@Mashinsky) June 11, 2022
This was one day before Celsius froze all funds.
FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) can exist and still be true…FYI.
I know many people have experienced Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt after their Celsius funds were frozen but it doesn’t make the story untrue that the funds are frozen.
Now reports are circulating that Mashinsky attempted to leave the country and was detained.
The first report appears to have come from @MikeAlfred:
BREAKING: Alex Mashinsky attempted to leave the country this week via Morristown Airport but was stopped by authorities. Unclear at this moment whether he was arrested or simply barred from leaving. Please contact me if you have more information on this.
— Mike Alfred (@mikealfred) June 27, 2022
Others have also posted:
🚨BREAKING: Celsius CEO, Alex Mashinsky Was STOPPED By U.S. Authorities When Trying To Leave The Country (Gokhshtein Media)
— HeadlineHunter! 🚨 Alerts (@headlinehunter_) June 27, 2022
JUST IN: #Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky accused of trying to run to 🇮🇱 Israel amidst company bankruptcy
— DustyBC Crypto (@TheDustyBC) June 27, 2022
BREAKING: Reports that Alex Mashinsky was led away by federal agents from Morristown, NJ private airport Friday morning.pic.twitter.com/FSl9GY6DFj
— theweeknd.eth (@LilMoonLambo) June 27, 2022
Blockchain.news reported the following:
Crypto lender platform Celsius Network CEO Alex Mashinsky was reportedly stopped by authorities from leaving the U.S., amid insolvency rumours about his company.
Mashinsky’s failed exodus was first disclosed by crypto analyst Mike Alfred on his Twitter account on Sunday local time. He tweeted saying Mashinsky was trying “to leave the country this (last) week via Morristown Airport (in New Jersey) but was stopped by authorities.”
According to Coingape, citing Alfred’s prediction, the Ukraine-born CEO was trying to flee to Israel.
Alfred’s tweet also added that Mahinsky current whereabouts are unclear. Details about whether he is under custody are yet to be revealed.
The cryptocurrency loan company allows users to deposit cryptocurrency digital assets into a Celsius wallet to earn a percentage yield or take out loans by placing their cryptocurrencies as security.
Currently, the crypto market is under high volatility since the US FED’s increase in interest rates in early May 2022.
Rumours about insolvency have been floating around since Celsius decided to freeze withdrawals, swaps or transfers among all accounts in June, citing extreme market conditions. The company has repeatedly claimed that it would take time to resume its operation.
However, the company has started repaying clients to regain liquidity and re-open withdrawals. Recently, Celsius repaid interest-yielding DeFi service Compound Finance with $10 million worth of the DAI stablecoin, according to a report from Crypto Briefing.
We repeat that we have not been able to independently verify the story and it may be inaccurate.
This story continues to develop.
Meanwhile, @Zach_HODL_ON who describes himself as a “100% pure Celsian HODLer” has posted the following, claiming the reports are inaccurate:
UPDATE – “Consistent with our previous messages, all Celsius employees – including our CEO – are focused and hard at work in an effort to stabilize liquidity and operations. To that end, any reports that the Celsius CEO has attempted to leave the U.S. are false.”
— Zach (@Zach_HODL_ON) June 27, 2022
As with our original reporting on June 11 asking if Celsius was in trouble, time will tell on this one.
Stay tuned, this is a developing story.
We’ll continue to report when we have more.
UPDATE:
Watcher.Guru reports that the Celsius Network denies its CEO attempted to flee the country:
EXCLUSIVE: Celsius Network denies all allegations that it's CEO attempted to flee the country.
— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) June 27, 2022
At press time for this article, no such denial was found on the Celsius Twitter account or on Mashinsky’s Twitter account.
The last post from the Celsius Twitter account was June 19, nearly 8 days ago.
JungleInc had this funny reply:
Was he stopped from taking a vacation then? 😆
— Jungle Inc 💥Steady Lads💥 #MMG (@jungleincxrp) June 27, 2022
Check back for more updates as they develop.
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