(Reuters) – Aleks Mashinsky, the founder and former CEO of bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Celsius Community, was arrested on Thursday morning, in line with a supply accustomed to the matter, and was sued by the U.S. Securities and Trade Fee in an indictment.
The SEC’s lawsuit alleges that Mashinsky and Celsius raised billions of {dollars} by promoting unregistered securities of cryptocurrency belongings and misled traders concerning the monetary success of their companies.
The lawsuit is along with a sequence of challenges to Celsius Community that had been additionally filed earlier this 12 months by the New York legal professional normal.
The cryptocurrency trade is on shaky floor after SEC lawsuits towards main cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and Coinbase (NASDAQ: ) International final month raised the danger of additional regulatory challenges for the sector.
