Celsius crypto lender, now bankrupt, sues ex-money manager over alleged theft

Before the cryptocurrency lender went bankrupt last month, Celsius Network LLC, according to a lawsuit filed on Tuesday by the company against a former investment manager, lost or stole assets worth tens of millions of dollars.

After Stone misrepresented himself as a pioneer in the industry, Celsius filed a case in Manhattan bankruptcy court accusing Stone and his business KeyFi Inc of "gross carelessness" and "extraordinarily poor" crypto investment.

Stone was "unable" to use cryptocurrencies profitably, according to Celsius, leading to losses of "several tens of millions of dollars."

He allegedly used stolen money to purchase hundreds of non-fungible tokens ("NFTs"), which he kept out of sight, and then hid his activities by using Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency "mixer" that the U.S. Treasury Department banned on August 8 due to concerns that it could be used to launder the proceeds of cybercrime.

Six weeks after KeyFi sued Celsius in a Manhattan-based New York state court, the current case was filed on Tuesday.

It alleged that Celsius operated a Ponzi scheme, improperly handled client deposits, neglected to hedge investments, and defrauded Stone of possible compensation worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

According to court documents, Stone worked with Celsius for roughly seven months, concluding in March 2021.

Stone's attorney Kyle Roche said via email that Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky had approved KeyFi's remuneration, which included NFTs.

The most recent filing by Celsius, according to Roche, "is an effort to rewrite history and make KeyFi and Mr. Stone the scapegoat for their organizational failure."

Each party feels the other is owed money, and both lawsuits aim to recover it as well as compensatory and punitive damages.

After halting withdrawals and transfers for its 1.7 million clients because to "extreme" market circumstances on July 13, Celsius, located in Hoboken, New Jersey, filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors.

The cases are KeyFi Inc. v. Celsius Network Ltd. et al., New York State Supreme Court, New York County, No. 652367/2022; and Celsius Network Ltd. et al. v. Stone et al., U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No. 22-ap-01139.