Alex Mashinsky, founder and former CEO of bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network, pleaded not guilty yesterday to U.S. fraud charges that he misled customers and artificially inflated the value of his company's propriety crypto token, Reuters reported. Three federal regulatory agencies also sued Mashinsky and Celsius in connection with the case. Mashinsky was charged with seven criminal counts — including securities fraud, commodities fraud and wire fraud — according to an indictment unsealed earlier on Thursday. He is one of several crypto moguls to be indicted in another blow for the industry, which is undergoing a reckoning after a slump in crypto prices led to the collapse of several companies, including exchange giant FTX. That company's founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, was charged with fraud last year, and has pleaded not guilty. U.S. Magistrate Judge Ona Wang said Mashinsky would be released on a $40 million bond secured by his Manhattan residence.
