Celsius, the fraudulent firm that marketed ultra-high rates of interest on crypto deposits, has emerged from chapter and is working once more.
Below its new title, Ionic Digital, the Celsius 2.0 relaunch goes even worse than anybody may have imagined.
Though founder Alex Mashinsky is out of the corporate and awaiting his jail sentence, a brand new group of administrators has been put in and have paid themselves lavish compensation packages price $420,000 yearly to function the one enterprise that continues to be within the resuscitated Celsius: mining.
That compensation package deal speaks for itself. Certainly, solely 12 different firms within the S&P 500 index pay their administrators greater than Ionic.
Nonetheless, even these unimaginable pay charges haven’t been sufficient to retain expertise. Since Ionic revived Celsius’ mining enterprise — its lending and interest-bearing companies not function — Ionic has misplaced two CEOs, two CFOs, a chief authorized officer, and 7 administrators.
Worse, the corporate’s third-party auditor additionally resigned.
Celsius 2.0 frozen whereas hundreds of thousands of {dollars} drain away
In response to a brand new lawsuit, Celsius 1.0 victims thought that their partial compensation in shares of Ionic could be price $20. Nonetheless, they’re truly price $0 right this moment as a result of they’re illiquid and frozen by the Ionic board’s inaction.
If you happen to had been a Celsius creditor and acquired money to purchase BTC as a substitute of Ionic shares, you would be up over 150%. As a substitute, you have acquired a inventory that does not (and is not allowed to) commerce. Be part of over 3,500 of your fellow shareholders (together with a lot of the largest) who’ve dedicated to again…
— Mike Cagney (@mcagney) January 20, 2025
As a substitute of 150% positive aspects in bitcoin, Ionic stockholders have unsellable share certificates.
The 86,000 collectors who accepted “$20” shares in Ionic are suing the corporate in an try to put in their very own board of administrators and provides themselves the chance to promote these shares.
In addition they need to cease the “millions of dollars that have funneled out of Ionic, revictimizing stockholders already hurt by Celsius’s pre-bankruptcy fraud.”
In fact, all courts hear two sides of each story. The grievance by these shareholders is merely one aspect of the Ionic story and the lawsuit is new as of February 10, 2025. Ionic and its counsel haven’t but had the chance to reply in court docket.
In December 2024, Celsius founder Mashinsky pleaded responsible to 2 counts of monetary fraud. He’s not a part of Ionic right this moment and is dealing with a most sentence of 30 years for his crimes. A decide has scheduled his sentencing window for April-Could of this 12 months.
