Alex Mashinsky, the chief executive officer of cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network LLC which has filed for bankruptcy, has resigned from his position, according to a statement released by the company on Tuesday.
See related article: Regulator alleges Celsius resembled Ponzi scheme in new filing
Fast facts
- The company’s chief financial officer, Chris Ferraro, has been appointed as interim CEO and as chief restructuring officer effective immediately.
- “I will continue to maintain my focus on working to help the community unite behind a plan that will provide the best outcome for all creditors – which is what I have been doing since the company filed for bankruptcy,” Mashinsky said in the statement.
- The Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, a group of former Celsius customers representing other customers through the company’s bankruptcy proceedings, had asked for Mashinsky’s resignation. The Committee had also indicated that they may sue Mashinsky for any damages they believe he owes them personally, according to a statement filed Tuesday in bankruptcy court.
- CEL, the platform’s native token, initially fell 7.5% following the news, but regained most of that ground in the hours since. It was trading 0.1% down at US$1.50 at 12 noon Hong Kong time, according to CoinMarketCap.
- Celsius filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York in July, after freezing transactions on its platform in June, as one of a host of crypto firms caught up in the contagion caused by the multibillion collapse of the algorithmic stablecoin Terra-LUNA.
- Mashinsky and fellow executive Oren Blonstein recently said they were planning on reorganizing the company as a cryptocurrency custody business, according to leaked audio from a company meeting earlier the month.
See related article: Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky floats restructuring as custody business amid bankruptcy proceedings