Leaked WhatsApp Chats Show Celsius Gambled $8M Weekly to Sustain CEL
In a recent revelation, Keith, a volunteer analyst assisting Celsius creditors in deciphering the intricacies of the company’s financials and business documents, shared a series of eye-opening insights.
These insights stem from WhatsApp conversations between Celsius Network fonder Alex Mashinsky and Roni Pavon, the firm’s former Chief Revenue Officer, in 2021. The discussion particularly centered around the manipulative tactics related to the price of the company’s native token, CEL.
Alex and Roni Pavon back in 2021 discussing that CEL price was FAKE and based on Celsius themselves spending millions per week keeping the price up. Alex was clearly upset that CEL was not attracting legitimate interest and the Sell side volume far exceeded any buys. https://t.co/SlR6nAhmtv pic.twitter.com/AAQx4sSJXM
— Keith (@ChazzonKe) September 7, 2023
Based on the conversation, Mashinsky and Pavon expressed concerns that the CEL price was artificially inflated. Moreover, the duo expressed worries that CEL Celsius’ massive expenditures were the primary sustainer of CEL’s value.
In particular, the two executives acknowledged spending above $8 million weekly to sustain CEL’s price. Mashinsky and Pavon extended the coordinated efforts of buying CEL until March 2022. Their actions were reportedly complemented by collaborations with influencers to generate more attention for CEL in the crypto community.
Yet, Keith mentioned that Mashinsky was visibly dismayed by CEL’s inability to attract genuine interest and its alarming sell-side volume. The shared WhatsApp conversation included Mashinsky asking Pavon, “Can I buy 100k CEL and announce on my Twitter.” Interestingly, the revenue officer gave a green light. He added, “Buying only counts if we all say we bought and how much.”
Meanwhile, Keith noted that the subsequent market downturn came after Celsius ceased the buying activities. Keith further argued that the fall of CEL was primarily a result of Celsius leaving that market rather than the notion of an attack, as some claimed.
A final revelation in Keith’s tweet pertains to an alleged attempt by Alex Mashinsky to convert low-value holdings from users worth less than $10 into CEL tokens. Keith contends that this maneuver falsely increased the number of customers classified as CEL holders.
It is worth mentioning that the U.S. Department of Justice has charged Alex Mashinsky and Roni Pavon with multibillion-dollar scam and market manipulation schemes.