Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky Finally Breaks Silence Amidst The Chaos

Alex Mashinsky, the embattled company Celsius’s CEO, has finally spoken out on the topic three days after the crypto lender abruptly declared that all customer withdrawals, swaps, and transfers would be halted.

Those expecting answers as to when users will be able to withdraw monies again will be disappointed by Mashinsky’s response.

Mashinsky took to Twitter, addressing publicly for the first time since his company’s withdrawals were halted on Sunday night, to reassure the Celsius community that the company’s team is working “round the clock” to resolve the issue and to ask for users’ patience.

Celsius CEO says that the team is working non-stop

Notably, Mashinsky offered no indication of when he hopes or expects Celsius to be operational again. Soon after, Twitter users pleaded with Mashinsky for assurances about the security of clients’ deposits, but he did not react.

Celsius halted withdrawals on Sunday to “stabilize liquidity” and “preserve and protect assets” after Lido’s Staked Ether (stETH), a cryptocurrency provided on the platform, began to exhibit abnormalities.

The Ethereum 2.0 beacon chain (which will eventually combine with the Ethereum mainnet) symbolizes stETH, which is designed to be pegged to the value of ETH. As a result, stETH is frequently used as collateral on platforms such as Celsius to borrow ETH.

If stETH remains depegged from ETH, it’s unclear how the team will address the problem (at the time of writing, stETH is currently trading at .93 ETH). If no alternative finance sources can be identified, the corporation has reportedly contacted solicitors to investigate restructuring the company.

The announcement of the withdrawal freeze knocked Celsius’ native coin down 70% in an hour on Sunday. Mashinsky had been speaking much more freely just a day before, chastising a Twitter user for promoting “fear, uncertainty, and doubt” by citing allegations that retail investors were being locked out of their accounts.