Alex Mashinsky, the embattled former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Celsius Network, brought up Dogecoin to justify the manipulation of the price of Celsius's proprietary token, CEL.
According to the court filing by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Mashinsky questioned the intrinsic value of popular cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin and Solana, implying that speculative demand influences their market value, similar to what happened with CEL.
In these documents, Mashinsky and Celsius Chief Revenue Officer Roni Cohen-Pavon discuss the decline in CEL's price, attributing it to low demand, and their own company's efforts to maintain its value.
Mashinsky drew parallels to the soaring prices of Dogecoin and Solana, arguing that the perceived value of these tokens was driven by market speculation, similar to the situation he contends CEL has found itself in. "Is dogecoin value real? How about the $5B for Solana? Everyone knows what these tokens are and want to buy them because they think the price is going up," he said.Back in 2021, he suggested that Dogecoin should transition from a proof-of-work protocol to a less energy-intensive proof-of-stake one.
As reported by U.Today, the Israeli entrepreneur is facing multiple U.S. regulatory bodies, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), over alleged securities fraud and CEL price manipulation.
Mashinsky's arrest, and the legal action against Celsius Network, are the latest developments in a saga that has been unfolding since the company filed for bankruptcy in 2022 after losing billions of dollars in value. Mashinsky stepped down as CEO in September 2022, but his recent comments and the ongoing lawsuit continue to send ripples through the cryptocurrency industry.
Denys Serhiichuk
Tomiwabold Olajide
