Former director of financial crimes compliance at Celsius Network, Timothy Cradle, said in a recent interview with CNBC that the firm's executives were clearly aware of price manipulation around the CEL token as it was them who were "actively trading and increasing the price of the token."
Cradle, who worked at Celsius from August 2019 until September 2021, said he first learned about the token at a Celsius Christmas party in 2019, when "it came up in two completely different conversations for two completely different reasons." He added:
"They weren't shy about it. They were absolutely trading the token to manipulate the price."
Another employee at Celsius, who asked not to be named, said that it wasn't difficult for the firm to manipulate CEL as the token had low trading volumes. What's more is that sources close to the firm told CNBC that even Celsius Network CEO, Alex Mashinsky, was secretly selling his bags in crypto, while he was inducing investors to buy the token.
Cradle also revealed that Celsius apparently had no interest in complying with international laws at all as he was the third person in compliance team between 2019 and 2021.
