S. Daniel Leon, who co-founded Celsius with Alex Mashinsky in 2017, has left his job as head of strategy at the failed crypto lender, CNBC reported on Oct. 4, citing unnamed sources and an internal memo seen by point of sale Bloomberg later reported that it had received confirmation of Leon’s resignation from the company. Leon’s resignation comes a week after Mashinsky’s and is part of an apparently growing trend.
Celsius filed for bankruptcy on July 13, while under investigation by six US states and a month after freezing withdrawals. The company was reportedly $1.9 billion in debt at the time of its bankruptcy filing. Mashinsky resigned on September 27, saying in a statement: “I regret that my continued role as CEO has become an increasing distraction and I am deeply sorry for the difficult financial circumstances in which members of our community face.” His financial operations and management of the last days of the company’s solvency were the subject of intense scrutiny.
León filed in U.S. bankruptcy court to have his 32,600 shares of the company’s common stock declared worthless on Sept. 5. Bids on Celsius assets will be accepted until October 17, with an auction set for October 20, if necessary. FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was among the interested bidders.
Related: Celsius bankruptcy proceedings show complexities amid dwindling recovery hopes
Leon has joined a steady stream of executives exiting the crypto sector as the crypto winter drags on. Executives including former MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor, Kraken CEO Jesse Powell, FTX USA President Brett Harrison and Genesis CEO Michael Moro and CEO Matthew Ballensweig , they moved into less visible advisory roles. Others, like former Alameda Research co-CEO Sam Trabucco, Ignite CEO Peng Zhong and bankrupt Voyager Digital CFO Ashwin Prithipaul, have changed direction entirely.
All these leaders have left their positions since July.
