Popular crypto critic Peter Schiff has called out regulators in the United States of America for not discovering that bankrupt crypto lender Celsius network operated as a Ponzi scheme.
Taking to Twitter, Schiff revealed that it did not take him long to confirm that the Alex Mashinsky-founded start-up was a scam as far back as 2021. He said it took him just a few minutes when he had a debate with Alex to come to that conclusion. Responding to a report from media platform qz.com, Schiff said:
From inception #Celsius was an obvious Ponzi scheme. It only took me a few minutes during a Nov. 2021 debate with Alex Mashinsky to figure it out. What took the government so long? Why did the scheme have to completely collapse before regulators noticed?
The sentiment from Peter Schiff is something many industry observers had debated about when it comes to a host of companies that had gone bankrupt over the past year. The abrupt collapse of the FTX Derivatives Exchange back in November last year comes off as a major shocker, as the start-up showed signs of health until it was too late.
Unrelenting bearish voice
In an unusual twist, members of the crypto ecosystem agreed with Peter Schiff, many of whom made reference to the closure of his Puerto Rican financial institution, the Euro Pacific Bank last year.
Schiff has earned a reputation for being the most vocal critic of the burgeoning crypto ecosystem. The gold advocate has often reiterated how he believes the price of Bitcoin (BTC) will plunge beyond current levels, a prediction that is yet to come to pass.
Despite his harsh stance, the Euro Pacific Bank was tipped to accept Bitcoin as payment prior to its closure.