Popular astrologer under fire for working with crypto lender's Celsius Network

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

The Washington Post I Getty Images Maren Altman in an apartment in May 2021.

If you don't know what that means, don't worry. (This 8th degree is about "exposing the awful truth", according to the astrologer.)

Altman is an influencer who rose to fame online (in part) for creating content that combines astrology with cryptocurrency predictions. (Astrology follows 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 Celsius Network, a now defunct and possibly fraudulent cryptocurrency company, and posting a 'free' video interview with its former CEO, according to CoinDesk.

Altman told the outlet that she couldn't "overstate the viciousness and insanity of the threats…The equivalent of that would be like I'm getting paid by Peloton to talk about their bike and investors tell me blamed for the decline in the share price."< /p>

The documents came out through Celsius' bankruptcy proceedings and, of course, via Twitter. One user pointed out that Altman said she wasn't "paid sh–" for an interview with former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky.

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

"The reality is that Maren is an astrology scammer who advertised a Ponzi scheme to her subscribers in exchange for large sums of money. She continues to lead people into meat grinders without risk to herself," one Twitter user commented on this latest Tweet.

Altman pushed back on criticism of CoinDesk.

She said in a blog post that Mashinsky's interview was a "favor". Altman also told the outlet that she had a separate contract to post about the company until she unexpectedly ended the deal in May (the company suspended withdrawals in June). - and that it communicates when its publications on social networks are paid.

"My mistake was trusting Celsius," Altman told the outlet. When it came to the company's finances, she said, she had "no clue, no visibility into anything other than my marketing campaign."

The crypto world and more mainstream sources began taking notice of Altman's online predictions and influence last year, with his prediction of a new moon-related dip and then a bull run in January 2021, for example.

"When to trade bitcoin? When Saturn intersects Mercury, of course," Reuters wrote about him in January 2021.

Altman has already faced backlash online, however, with members of the astrological community saying she has stolen content from color creators. She did not immediately respond to Entrepreneur's request for comment.

Whether or not Mercury Retrograde can be cited to explain why some people have backfired on it online, Altman has been pretty clear about how she feels about this controversy.

"It's like a witch hunt for someone they don't even know," she told CoinDesk.