The former CEO of crypto platform Celsius, Alex Mashinsky, is facing criminal prosecution in the United States after his lawyers failed to drop two charges related to commodity fraud and manipulation of the price of Celsius (CEL) tokens. Judge John Koeltl has filed a document in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, ruling that the arguments put forward by Mr. Mashinsky's legal team to drop the charges were "either moot or unfounded". The judge denied motions to drop the two charges, leaving seven counts in the indictment. Alex Mashinsky's trial is scheduled to begin in January 2025.