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.

Mashinsky's downfall mirrors the fate of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, Binance's Changpeng Zhao and Do Kwon of Terraform Labs.

Alex Mashinsky, the founder of collapsed crypto lending platform Celsius Network, was sentenced to 12 years in prison Thursday for defrauding investors and manipulating the company's native token CEL (CEL-USD).