financialtimes OP t1_j6owg9u wrote on January 31, 2023 at 9:25 PM

Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius misused investor and customer funds for years before its collapse, including to help its founders cash out tens of millions of dollars, a court-appointed examiner said in a new report. The company founded by Alex Mashinsky promoted itself as an innovative, digital asset alternative to traditional banks, luring customers with interest rates as high as 17 per cent. But it used the money it received from thousands of everyday investors to inflate the price of its own token, CEL, in a scheme an employee described at the time as “very Ponzi like”, according to the report prepared by a law firm appointed by the US bankruptcy court.