Crypto-astrologer Maren Altman faces backlash for Celsius post

Astrologers already are saying it makes sense that Maren Altman was recently attacked online – when Mercury retrograde began at eight degrees Libra in early September.

If you don’t know what that means, don’t worry. (The 8th degree is about “revealing the ugly truth,” according to the astrologer.)

Altman is an influencer who became famous online (in part) for creating content that combined astrology with cryptocurrency predictions. (Astrology tracks the movement of the planets in our solar system and claims that they reflect or indicate current events).

But now she’s facing fire online for taking money from the now-defunct, possibly fraudulent cryptocurrency company Celsius Network — and publishing a “free” video interview with its former CEO, according to CoinDesk.

Altman told the outlet that she can’t “exaggerate the viciousness and insanity of the threats … The equivalent of this would be like if I got paid by Peloton to talk about their bike and investors blamed me for the stock price going down.”

The documents came out via Celsius bankruptcy proceedings and, naturally, Twitter. One user pointed out that Altman had said she wasn’t “paid sh–” for an interview with former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky.

Why lie about getting paid? This is from a YT interview she did with Alex Mashinsky in May. pic.twitter.com/HbeeGrq7Qg

— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) 9 October 2022

Someone else then pointed out that Celsius’ documents show she was paid $15,000 by the company in April and May.

Looks like @marenaltman took $15k/mo from $CEL pic.twitter.com/ZQyXHq13LT

— BowTiedIguana (@BowTiedIguana) 7 October 2022

“The reality is that Maren is an astrology grifter who advertised a Ponzi scheme to her followers in exchange for large sums of money. She continues to lead people into meat grinders at no risk to herself,” one Twitter user commented on the latter tweet.

Altman pushed back on the criticism of CoinDesk.

She said in a blog that the Mashinsky interview was a “favor”. Altman also told the outlet that she had a separate contract to post about the company until it ended the deal unexpectedly in May (the company put withdrawals on hiatus in June) — and that she communicates when her social posts are paid.

“My mistake was trusting Celsius,” Altman told the outlet. As for the company’s finances, she said, she had, “Not a clue, no visibility into anything other than my marketing campaign.”

The crypto world and more traditional sources began to take notice of Altman’s predictions and internet sway last year, with her prediction of another moon-related dip and then a bull run in January 2021, for example.

“When to trade bitcoin? When Saturn transits Mercury, of course,” Reuters wrote about her in January 2021.

Altman has dealt with online backlash before, but people in the astrological community said she stole content from creators of color. She didn’t answer immediately Contractor request for comment.

Whether or not the degree of Mercury retrograde can be cited as why certain people have turned against her online, Altman was pretty clear on how she feels about this controversy.

“It’s like a witch hunt for someone they don’t even know,” she told CoinDesk.