Alex Mashinsky, the founder and former CEO of the collapsed cryptocurrency lending firm Celsius, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for fraud that led to “billions in losses,” the Department of Justice announced on Thursday.

Prosecutors accused Mashinsky of misleading investors about the profitability of Celsius’ platform while secretly selling off tens of millions of dollars in personal holdings.

Alex Mashinsky, the former CEO and co-founder of defunct crypto lender Celsius Network, is pushing back against what he calls a “venom-laced” attempt by federal prosecutors to secure a de facto life sentence.

Federal prosecutors had sought a sentence of at least 20 years for Alex Mashinsky, who attracted customers—many of them ordinary investors—by urging them to “unbank” themselves and park their savings at Celsius.

Alex Mashinsky, the founder of cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network, was ordered to spend 12 years in prison for defrauding hundreds of thousands of customers lured by his firm’s high interest rates on digital-asset deposits.

Mashinsky acknowledged illegally manipulating the price of Celsius’ proprietary token while secretly selling his own tokens at inflated prices. He made $48 million off the schem

The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton announced Thursday that Alexander Mashinsky, the founder and former CEO of the Celsius cryptocurrency platform and Bitcoin mining company,

The founder and former CEO of the cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius Network has been sentenced to 12 years in prison after a prosecutor labeled him a predator who “preyed on hope” by enticing vulnerable customers to risk their life savings for a supposedly safe investment.

Alex Mashinsky, the founder and former chief executive of bankruptcy cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network, was sentenced on Thursday to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty in December to securities fraud and commodities fraud.