Yet Another Celsius Cofounder Resigns as Inquiry Nears

• Celsius Network cofounder Daniel Leon has stepped down according to reports, exactly a week since CEO Alex Mashinsky stepped down.
• The two have resigned just as an inquiry by the court-appointed investigator starts into the company amid insider trading allegations.

Yet another Celsius Network cofounder has resigned from the troubled bankrupt crypto lender. This time, it’s Daniel Leon, the former Chief Strategy Officer at the company.

Multiple sources revealed to the Financial Times that Leon was leaving the firm, just one week since CEO Alex Mashinsky stepped down.

In a statement, the lender reportedly confirmed the departure.

We confirm that Daniel Leon resigned from his position at Celsius and is no longer part of the organization.

Celsius cofounder Daniel Leon has left the bankrupt crypto lender, the company confirms:

“We confirm that Daniel Leon resigned from his position at Celsius and is no longer part of the organization.”

His resignation follows that of former CEO Alex Mashinsky last week

— kadhim (＾ｰ^)ノ (@kadhim) October 4, 2022

In a memo sent to news outlets Tuesday, the company revealed that his role will now be taken over by Lior Koren, the former global tax director for the company. He will be operating from Israel.

The resignation comes amid an upcoming probe into the company’s collapse by an investigator appointed by the US Treasury Department’s trustee. He’ll be probing how the company was operated and whether the top brass had anything to do with the collapse. The trustee has in the past accused the leadership of covering up some of its faults and not fully cooperating with the bankruptcy proceedings.

One of the issues that the investigator will look into is insider trading. Leon and Mashinsky have been accused of dumping their CEL tokens on investors, sometimes acting using information that’s not been made public yet. As CNM reported Monday, Mashinsky cashed out $10 million just days before the company announced it would freeze withdrawals.

FT has also previously reported that while he urged the public to “Hold On for Dear Life,” or HODL, Leon was dumping his CEL tokens on the market and making millions of dollars. In over 15 disposals between October 2020 and August 2021, he earned over $11.5 million.