Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky Blocked from Leaving for Israel

Federal aviation authorities reportedly blocked Celsius Network CEO Alex Mashinsky from leaving the United States last week as the disgraced executive attempted to board a flight for Israel.

“Alex Mashinsky attempted to leave the country this week via Morristown Airport, but was stopped by authorities,” BrightScope founder Mike Alfred wrote in a post on Twitter late Sunday evening, adding that it was “unclear at this moment whether he was arrested or simply barred from leaving.”

Mashinsky’s company seized customer assets this month as it sought to avoid receiving a margin call for a $278 million loan on the Maker Protocol, calling it “necessary” for “our entire community.” The company stood to lose $420 million in collateral if bitcoin sank below a price of $22,000, but managed to bring that figure down to $14,000 after freezing assets and making payments on the loan.

BREAKING: Alex Mashinsky attempted to leave the country this week via Morristown Airport but was stopped by authorities. Unclear at this moment whether he was arrested or simply barred from leaving. Please contact me if you have more information on this.

— Mike Alfred (@mikealfred) June 27, 2022

Celsius has hired Alvarez & Marsal and law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld to look into restructuring. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Goldman Sachs was contacting investors in an effort to raise $2 billion to purchase Celsius in the event of a bankruptcy filing, an option that Citigroup and Akin Gump have both reportedly advised Celsius to pursue. The company had $8 billion in outstanding loans to clients and $11.8 billion in assets under management as of May.

Mashinsky, who holds dual citizenship between the U.S. and Israel, remained combative with skeptics who questioned his company’s solvency in the days leading up to its June 12 announcement that it was freezing customer assets. He has been notably absent from Twitter since that time, with the sole exception of a June 15 tweet in which he said his team was “working non-stop.”

He did not address the report about his attempt to leave the country, nor did Celsius respond to a request for comment.