In September last year, Alex Mashinsky was riding high.
Appearing on a panel sponsored by Johns Hopkins University to talk about bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, Mashinsky, the chief executive of the crypto banking firm Celsius, exuded confidence about the future of crypto and disdain for traditional banks and traditional currencies.
"The banks have abused their power," Mashinsky said, citing the discrepancy between the interest that banks pay on dollar deposits — an annualized rate of less than 1% — and the nearly 9% that Celsius paid on deposits of some digital currencies. "Is the real value of money 0.1%?" he asked. "Or is the real value of money ... 8.8%?"
