Did crypto lender Celsius inflated the price of its own cryptocurrency?

Crypto lender Celsius artificially inflated the price of its own digital coin, failed to hedge risk and engaged in activities that amounted to fraud, a lawsuit alleges. Celsius on Thursday was sued by former investment manager Jason Stone, as pressure continues to mount on the firm amid a crash in cryptocurrency prices.

What happened to Celsius Network?

Sign up for our new Crypto newsletter and follow @crypto Twitter for the latest news. Celsius Network, the crypto lender that froze assets last month, used customer funds to manipulate the price of its proprietary token and lost hundreds of millions of dollars by failing to hedge risk, a former money manager for the company said in a lawsuit.

Was Celsius a Ponzi scheme?

Stone alleges in the lawsuit that Celsius was running a “Ponzi scheme.” Celsius on Thursday was sued by former investment manager Jason Stone, as pressure continues to mount on the firm amid a crash in cryptocurrency prices. Stone has alleged, among other things, that Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky (above) was “able to enrich himself considerably.”

Is Celsius a bank?

Celsius was not immediately available for comment on the lawsuit when contacted by CNBC. Celsius acts like a bank in that it offers customers yield, sometimes as high as nearly 19%, if they deposit their crypto with the company. The firm then lends that crypto out to others willing to pay a high interest rate to borrow.