A Former Celsius Director Details Suspected CEL Token Price Manipulation.
According to Timothy Cradle, the company culture at Celsius ignored compliance, which resulted in risky and immoral actions like CEL manipulation.
A former Celsius director claimed in an interview with CNBC that the company actively participated in influencing the price of its CEL coin.
Tim Cradle worked there for more than two years. He began as an AML Analyst and later worked his way up to Head of Monitoring before being hired for the three-month job of Director of Financial Crimes Compliance.
On June 13, Celsius declared a halt to withdrawals, swaps, and transfers in an effort to “stabilize” its business.
Users had reported issues with money withdrawals in the weeks before the suspension, which fed allegations that the business was bankrupt. At the time, CEO Alex Mashinsky refuted the allegations and attributed criticisms, notably those regarding CEL’s declining performance, to unidentified parties attempting to take down the company.
It has since been revealed that Celsius actively participated in dangerous, highly leveraged trading. But once crypto winter started to bite deep, that tactic failed.
On July 14, the company declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy, putting a stop to rumors that business would resume as usual. A $1.2 billion balance sheet imbalance was disclosed in the court filing, raising questions over whether consumers’ money will be reimbursed.
At a 2019 Christmas gathering, Cradle claimed he learned about market manipulation for the first time. The former Compliance Director claimed that senior executives were talking about “deliberate price movements” in CEL at the gathering, which he described as “a bit of an odd thing.”
Market manipulation is the term used to describe any effort to impede the free and equitable functioning of the market. There is regulation against market manipulation, but none that applies specifically to cryptocurrencies, claims cryptocurrency inventor Erik Read.
Cradle revealed his insider knowledge by claiming that Celsius management was “absolutely” utilizing client monies to artificially inflate the price of CEL.
“I don’t know what better way to phrase it. But they were in the market, they were actively trading and increasing the price of the token.”
An understaffed compliance team, limited resources, and being overridden on “risky investments,” according to Cradle, are examples of how little importance the company placed on compliance.
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