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Celsius Founder Alex Mashinsky To Plead Guilty To Fraud Charges

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Alex Mashinsky, the founder and former CEO of Celsius Network, has agreed to plead guilty to two fraud charges following an indictment filed in July 2023. His defense attorney announced this during a court hearing in a Manhattan federal court. The charges relate to allegations of fraud, conspiracy, and market manipulation concerning Celsius Network’s operations and its proprietary token, Cel. 

This decision follows a legal battle that started earlier in 2023 when Mashinsky was initially charged with seven counts related to the collapse of Celsius.

Celsius Founder Alex Mashinsky Faces Guilty Plea for Fraud and Market Manipulation

In a recent development, Celsius Network founder Alex Mashinsky intends to plead guilty to two counts of fraud after being indicted in 2023. These charges stem from accusations that Mashinsky misled Celsius customers, prompting them to invest in the company’s crypto services under pretenses. Prosecutors claim that Mashinsky artificially inflated the value of the company’s proprietary token, Cel, to mislead investors and customers.

Moreover, Celsius founder is also accused of personally profiting from his actions. Federal prosecutors allege that he reaped approximately $42 million in proceeds from the sale of Cel tokens, further exacerbating the damage caused to investors. 

Earlier this year, Celsius former chief revenue officer, Roni Cohen-Pavon, pleaded guilty to similar charges and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors’ ongoing investigation.

More so, in September 2024, Mashinsky sought the testimony of six former employees to support his defense in his ongoing fraud trial. Mashinsky blamed his team for misleading investors and misrepresenting the company’s financial condition.

Celsius Network’s Bankruptcy and the Fall 

The criminal charges against Celsius founder come after the collapse of Celsius Network in 2022. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July 2022, following a rush of withdrawals by customers fearing insolvency. As a result, many customers were unable to access their funds. The bankruptcy was one of the first major events in a series of failures within the crypto lending sector during the 2022 market crash. 

Similarly, this period also saw the collapse of other entities like FTX and Three Arrows Capital. However, in recent reports, after almost two years, the FTX reorganization plan is set to resume in January 2025. The plan will allow creditors to begin receiving payments, though users must create accounts with designated agents to be eligible.

The Celsius Network bankruptcy revealed financial mismanagement and fraud within the company, with customers accusing Mashinsky of misleading them. This financial instability ultimately led to the downfall and the legal charges against its former CEO.

Mashinsky’s legal team is continuing to navigate the fraud charges in preparation for his upcoming court appearances. Although he initially pleaded not guilty to the charges, Mashinsky has now agreed to plead guilty. 

However, despite the Celsius founder guilty plea, at press time, CEL price remained relatively stable. The token, which has faced volatility since the collapse, has rallied by 17% over the past 24 hours. This recent uptick comes after a period of sharp declines, with CEL price dropping over 96% from its all-time high.

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Ronny Mugendi

Ronny Mugendi is a seasoned crypto journalist with four years of professional experience, having contributed significantly to various media outlets on cryptocurrency trends and technologies. With over 4000 published articles across various media outlets, he aims to inform, educate and introduce more people to the Blockchain and DeFi world. Outside of his journalism career, Ronny enjoys the thrill of bike riding, exploring new trails and landscapes.

Disclaimer: The presented content may include the personal opinion of the author and is subject to market condition. Do your market research before investing in cryptocurrencies. The author or the publication does not hold any responsibility for your personal financial loss.





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Is Ethena Price At Risk? Market Maker Offloads $10M ENA Raising Concerns

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Ethena price remains concerningly eyed by crypto market participants against the backdrop of a severe bearish trajectory. ENA erased nearly 4% in the past 24 hours, in sync with a renowned market maker dumping over $10 million worth of tokens. Thus, traders and investors anticipate additional short-term volatility in the coin, whilst it recently faced rejection at a key resistance of $0.48.

Ethena Price Gains Bearish Momentum, Here’s Why

On-chain data from Arkham Intelligence on March 22 signaled that market maker Amber Group deposited $10.35 million worth of ENA to Binance. Out of the deposits, $2.5 million worth of tokens were acquired from the same crypto exchange two weeks ago. This accumulation took place at an average price of $0.3979.

On the other hand, Amber Group received $7.85 million worth of coins from the Ethena Claim address. These tokens were received between April 2024 and July 2024.

For context, the market maker’s massive dump to Binance impacts a crypto’s supply dynamics. In turn, market participants expect short-term volatility in price. However, speculations of a bolstered movement also prevail as this endeavor will increase liquidity and trading volumes, thereby magnetizing investors.

Ethena Token Unlocks: Another Vital Barrier For Price?

Simultaneously, ENA tokenomics faces additional heat amid massive token unlocks recorded this month. Notably, Cryptorank’s data flagged 2.06 billion coins, worth 13.9% of the total supply, unlocked on March 5.

Meanwhile, 94.19 million coins, worth 0.63% of the asset’s total supply, were unlocked on March 2. These unlocks substantially increase the asset’s market supply, negatively impacting demand and price sentiments.

Another massive unlock of 94.19 million coins is set to occur on April 2. Further, 171.85 million tokens will be unlocked on April 5. As a result, traders and investors reflect highly concerning sentiments surrounding Ethena price action ahead as the supply inflates.

How Is The Crypto Delivering As The Month Ends?

At the time of reporting, Ethena price crashed nearly 4% and exchanged hands at $0.3581. The coin bottomed and peaked at $0.3497 and $0.3763 in the past 24 hours. Notably, the waning price action comes in sync with Amber Group’s massive dump to the top crypto exchange.

Whereas, the weekly and monthly charts show a dip of 1% and 11%, respectively. The broader slumping action falls in line with the massive token unlocks mentioned above.

Renowned market trader and analyst Sjuul/AltCryptoGems took to X, revealing that ENA again faced crucial resistance at $0.48, slamming the chances for a pump ahead. “If bulls fail to defend this demand, it would be a pretty bad sign,” the analyst concluded amid bearish dynamics taking over.

Additionally, an Ethena price prediction by CoinGape indicated that the crypto’s 3-month bias indicator is tilting in favor of bears. This has further pushed traders and investors to take a cautious trading approach on the token.

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Coingape Staff

CoinGape comprises an experienced team of native content writers and editors working round the clock to cover news globally and present news as a fact rather than an opinion. CoinGape writers and reporters contributed to this article.

Disclaimer: The presented content may include the personal opinion of the author and is subject to market condition. Do your market research before investing in cryptocurrencies. The author or the publication does not hold any responsibility for your personal financial loss.





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Is Bitcoin Price Bottom In? Key Metrics Show rally Is Likely

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Bitcoin (BTC) price volatility is slowing down as the coin’s capitulation continues. At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s price was changing hands for $84,278.83 as it pared off the losses accrued in earlier trading. At this pace, the question now hinges on whether BTC can form sustainable support at the $84,000 price mark or whether further drawdown lies ahead.

Core Bitcoin Price Metric to Watch

According to Glassnode data, BTC Short-Term Holders (STH) are under increasing pressure. This group’s unrealized losses have surged, pushing many STH coins into losses. As revealed, their holdings are now nearing the two-standard deviation threshold. 

Despite this outlook, the data platform hinted that losses remain within historical bull market bounds. Specifically, it noted that these losses are less severe than the May 2021 sell-off from the all-time high. Glassnode said the rolling 30-day losses for STH have topped $7 billion. It confirmed that “this remains well below prior capitulation events, such as the $19.8B and $20.7B losses in 2021-22.”

BTC price jumped to an ATH above $109,000 in January but has since dropped by 22.79%. While experts predicted a drop of over 35%, the limited loss from holders can form a good rebound basis.

BTC Price Bottom In, Here Are Triggers for Rally

Over the past week, Bitcoin has rallied within very tight price ranges, from a low of $81,300 to a high of $87,320. Some market observers believe the coin has attained its floor price and might be set for a rebound.

While firms like Strategy have kept Bitcoin purchase plans alive with Strife’s perpetual stock offering, the Global Money Supply M2 also lays a positive basis for growth. With the current outlook, the projection that the $83,00 level is the BTC price floor is resounding among analysts.

The shift in regulation and the backing of Bitcoin by President Donald Trump creates a tailwind for the coin’s proponents. At the Digital Asset Summit earlier this week, President Trump reiterated the plan to make the US the crypto capital of the world.

Several government agencies have shifted their policies in this regard, which might attract investors in the long term.

How High Can Bitcoin Valuation Rise?

Despite the slowdown in growth in recent weeks, many market leaders are still confident in the coin’s prospects. As reported earlier by CoinGape, Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan maintained the price target of $1 million by 2029. He cited a longer-term reaction to macroeconomic uncertainties as the basis for his prediction.

While this Bitcoin price prediction appears lofty, others believe Bitcoin may cross $200,000 once the bull rally returns. With spot Bitcoin ETF hype and other growing institutional adoption, BTC price has an arguably bright future.

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Godfrey Benjamin

Benjamin Godfrey is a blockchain enthusiast and journalists who relish writing about the real life applications of blockchain technology and innovations to drive general acceptance and worldwide integration of the emerging technology. His desires to educate people about cryptocurrencies inspires his contributions to renowned blockchain based media and sites. Benjamin Godfrey is a lover of sports and agriculture.

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Disclaimer: The presented content may include the personal opinion of the author and is subject to market condition. Do your market research before investing in cryptocurrencies. The author or the publication does not hold any responsibility for your personal financial loss.





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Ethereum Price Eyes 50% Drop Amid Heavy ETH Whale Profit Booking

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Despite the recent attempt by the bulls, Ethereum price has struggled to regain past $2,000 levels recently. Market analysts believe that there’s enough possibility that ETH could see another 50% drop to $1,000 as some early ETH whales resolve to heavy profit booking.

Ethereum Price Struggles to Regain $2,000

Amid the overall market uncertainty, Ethereum continues to face some selling pressure as bulls fail to regain control over $2,000 levels. Crypto analyst Ali Martinez has stated that investors should maintain caution before building fresh positions in ETH.

“Ethereum hits $2,000. Cool, but zoom out! The big picture is brewing something bigger,” Martinez stated. As per the below chart shared by Martinez, if bulls fail to hold the Ethereum price above $2,050, it risks further falling to the next support at $1,500, and even below all the way to $1,095 levels, per his recent ETH price prediction.

Source: Ali Charts

As of press time, the ETH price is trading 2.26% down at $1,973 with its daily trading volume dropping over 40% to $12.21 billion. Furthermore, the ETH futures open interest has also dropped 4% under $20 billion. A recent ETH price prediction also hints that the crypto will hover near $2K for some time ahead.

Early ETH Whale Sells 34,125 Coins

Blockchain analytics platform SpotonChain reported that a major ETH whale appears to have secured a massive profit of $65.66 million, marking a staggering 4,156% return on investment. The whale’s holdings date back to March 2017 when they acquired the ETH from platforms like Changelly, Bitfinex, ShapeShift, and Binance at an average cost of just $46.3 per token.

The whale, identified as “0x086,” deposited its entire ETH holdings of 34,125 ETH to crypto exchange Coinbase a few hours ago. This transaction happened at an average Ethereum price of $1,970.

Source: SpotonChain

Currently, the ETH whale activity remains mixed as some big players are moving it from exchange and moving it to staking to earn the extra yield. These are specifically the long-term ETH holders holding with diamond hands.

BlackRock Explains Why Ethereum ETFs Are Struggling

Despite Ethereum price eyeing a relief rally past $2,000, there’s no major relief for spot Ethereum ETFs. The outflows have continued through March 2025 so far, highlighting a major drop in institutional sentiment.

While speaking at the Digital Asset Summit (DAS) in New York City, BlackRock’s head of digital assets Robbie Mitchnick explained the real reason behind this fall. Mitchnick suggested that the ETFs could have performed better if they had included staking, noting that the absence of this feature made the launch “less perfect.”

“A staking yield is a meaningful part of how you can generate investment return in this space. And all the [Ether] ETFs, of course, at launch did not have staking,” he said.

On Thursday, crypto asset manager Bitwise filed a proposal to introduce staking on Ethereum ETFs. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has proposed amendments to allow the listing and trading of shares for the Bitwise Ethereum ETF, incorporating staking capabilities.

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Bhushan Akolkar

Bhushan is a FinTech enthusiast with a keen understanding of financial markets. His interest in economics and finance has led him to focus on emerging Blockchain technology and cryptocurrency markets. He is committed to continuous learning and stays motivated by sharing the knowledge he acquires. In his free time, Bhushan enjoys reading thriller fiction novels and occasionally explores his culinary skills.

Disclaimer: The presented content may include the personal opinion of the author and is subject to market condition. Do your market research before investing in cryptocurrencies. The author or the publication does not hold any responsibility for your personal financial loss.





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