The resignation spree goes on in Crypto firm Celsius; the firm’s co-founder has just resigned after working for five years.
His LinkedIn account indicates he has worked with Celsius since 2017, when the company was founded. Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network’s co-founder and chief strategy officer, Daniel Leon, handed in his resignation a few days after Celsius’ CEO Alex Mashinsky resigned. Daniel Leon quit his job leaving behind massive shares; however, it is not clear what will be done with his dividends. CNBC viewed an internal memo concerning the resignation and confirmed it was true. The firm also confirmed the resignation to Bloomberg on Tuesday, saying,
“We confirm that Daniel Leon resigned from his position at Celsius and is no longer part of the organization. “
His position will be filled up by the company’s previous global tax director, Lior Koren.
Lior Koren will, however, be assuming the responsibilities of the firm’s co-founder and chief strategy officer out of Israel. The once well-known and trusted Crypto-lender is going through bankruptcy; Celsius filed for chapter two bankruptcy with $1.2 billion missing from its balance sheets. The firm did this with plans to get its finances straight to pay off its creditors.
The Downfall of Celsius
Celsius customers received many services from the network. This included giving investors colossal interest from the cryptos deposited in the firm’s account. This was the beginning of the company’s downfall. The network was forced to stop withdrawals and deposits into its accounts in June due to extreme market conditions. This sudden action frustrated thousands of its investors, leaving behind huge debts and customers worried if they would ever get back their money. This action was accompanied by accusations and lawsuits claiming that the firm was actively defrauding investors in July.
In an attempt to assure the affected people, the company stated that they were,
“…taking this necessary action for the benefit of our entire community to stabilize liquidity and operations while we take steps to preserve and protect assets.”
However, not everyone was shocked by the sudden turn of events. The regulators in Vermont were not surprised after these occurrences because, as they had observed, Celsius had been bankrupt since 2019. Besides, according to the regulators,
“…hundreds of millions of dollars pushed into Celsius’ native token had artificially inflated the firm’s token holdings, “court documents.”
According to the Financial Times, weeks before the company stopped withdrawals, Celsius’ former CEO had withdrawn $ 10 million twice from the firm’s account, a week after his resignation and nine months prior. The Bankrupt Crypto-lending network is amid intense bankruptcy proceedings and has announced an auction to sell its assets to qualified bidders. The final auction will be held on October 17th and 20th, if necessary.
A Brief History of Celsius
Celsius is a cryptocurrency lending platform that lets consumers get interested in crypto investments and borrow against them without paying. Celsius Network was a leading crypto lending network based in Hoboken, New Jersey; unfortunately, not anymore. Former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky and Daniel Leon met and started the firm in 2017. Accordingly, as reported by Bloomberg, Daniel Leon owns 32,600 shares of the company’s common stock, which he got in 2018.
