Mike Alfred: "Celsius CEO tried to leave the country"

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Cryptocurrency investor and analyst Mike Alfred reported that US law enforcement prevented Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky from leaving for Israel.

Back in mid-June, the cryptocurrency platformlending Celsius has frozen withdrawals of funds for its clients. Since then, Alex Mashinsky has remained silent, and there is no indication that customer funds will ever be released. As Mike Alfred tweeted, Celsius CEO was planning to leave for Israel:

“This week, Alex Mashinsky tried to leave the country through Morristown Airport, but authorities stopped him. At this point, it is unclear whether he was arrested or simply banned from traveling.”

The cryptocurrency community has taken a wait-and-see approach.position and reacted relatively calmly to news of the events surrounding Celsius. Some participants believe that Alfred has revealed another unsavory side of the company. Recall that in 2021, Israeli police arrested Celsius CFO Yaron Shalem as an accomplice of Singulariteam founder Moshe Hogeg, accused of money laundering.

“Now everything is in the hands of lawyers, I don’t know wellthis or bad. I keep thinking that the FBI has almost certainly already contacted Mashinsky. Perhaps he was even captured, interrogated and released. But there is enough in this case that the feds will want to look into it,” Alfred wrote on his blog.

Recently it became known that Goldman Sachsplans to raise $2 billion to purchase Celsius assets. The deal would allow the investment banking giant to buy the company's distressed assets at a "huge discount" if Celsius decides to file for bankruptcy.

Previously, Celsius hired a consulting firmAlvarez & Marsal for restructuring advice. The company also made a similar request to the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. According to unnamed sources, one of the restructuring options could be bankruptcy of the company.

Ledger chief development officer Ian Rogers said the company's sales "jumped 4.5 times in a day on news of Celsius' problems" and remain strong.