NEW YORK — The founder and former CEO of the cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius Network was sentenced Thursday 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.

U.S. District Judge John Koeltl said Alexander Mashinsky, 59, engaged in “extremely serious” crimes that enabled him to pocket over $45 million while some of his customers lost everything. Celsius declared bankruptcy in 2022, exposing risky financial bets Mashinsky had made with some of the $20 billion that thousands of customers invested.

He had promised that their money would be safe at Celsius, which pitched itself as a modern-day bank where crypto assets could earn interest. — Associated Press