Celsius Says Co-Founder Daniel Leon Has Resigned From Crypto Lender

Olga Kharif, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- Celsius Network Ltd., the crypto lender that filed for bankruptcy, said that co-founder Daniel Leon resigned this week.

“We confirm that Daniel Leon resigned from his position at Celsius and is no longer part of the organization,” the company said in a statement Tuesday to Bloomberg News.

Fellow co-founder and Celsius chief executive officer, Alex Mashinsky stepped down last week. The once high-lying crypto lender is going through bankruptcy after having left thousands of investors in a lurch after making risky bets before the collapse of cryptocurrency prices. In July, the company disclosed a $1.19 billion deficit. The bankruptcy judge in the case recently appointed an examiner to look into allegations of misconduct against the company and its management.

Celsius claimed to take on traditional banks, by letting people invest their coins and receive interest on them. In many of its YouTube videos, the company downplayed risks of such investing.

Celsius is currently accepting bids for its assets, and may consider doing an auction on Oct. 20, according to a Monday filing. A sale hearing is scheduled for Nov. 1. Crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried is considering going after the assets, Bloomberg reported earlier.

Leon, whose LinkedIn profile says he is based in Israel, said in a Sept. 5 court filing that he owns 32,600 shares of Celsius’s common stock.

In a June 2021 YouTube video, Leon said he ran into Mashinsky in 2017 while in New York, and they decided to work together, eventually deciding to start Celsius.

(Adds information on the resignation of the other co-founder, starting in the third paragraph.)