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| Category | Founder |
| Alma mater | Tel Aviv University, BS in Economics |
| Known for | Celsius |
Biography:
Many in the cryptocurrency industry know Alex Mashinsky as the founder and CEO of Celsius Network, an all-in-one financial services platform that catapulted in market rankings in 2020. But what you may not know about Mashinsky is that he’s a serial entrepreneur who has achieved remarkable success across several ventures. His startups have achieved more than $1 billion in funding and over $3 billion in exits. He holds dozens of patents and was one of the early inventors of “Voice over Internet Protocol,” or VOIP. You don’t have to look far to see why Mashinsky is a trailblazer in the technology sector and, more recently, the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry.
Mashinsky’s 2020:
2020 was the year that put Celsius Network on the map. Its ERC-20 token, CEL, vastly outperformed the crypto majors, including Bitcoin, rising more than 3,500% during the year. Celsius launched an extended crowdfunding campaign earlier in the year to expand the network and improve its service offerings. The company went on to raise over $20 million from more than 1,000 investors. In the process, Mashinsky responded to accusations that Celsius was raising money to prevent his company from going under. At the time, Celsius had over $150 million in assets, he claimed, adding that high-profile investments from the likes of Tether proved that the company was financially stable.
Mashinsky’s 2021:
Celsius Network stands to benefit from the growing demand for crypto lending and borrowing solutions, especially as more users enter the market. The ability to earn between 3% and 21% annual percentage yield on various crypto assets could make Celsius more attractive to yield-seeking investors as adoption heats up in 2021 and beyond.
Mashinsky believes the current crypto bull market is vastly different from the one that preceded it in 2017 because retail fear of missing out has been largely absent from the rally so far. He predicted all the way back in February 2020 that a new all-time high for Bitcoin would be reached by the end of 2020. As Celsius continues to scale the crypto market rankings, Mashinsky’s influence will continue to grow.