Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky reaches $10 million FTC settlement with lifetime crypto industry ban

The Federal Trade Commission entered a multi-billion-dollar judgment against former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky while permanently barring him from the crypto and financial services industries.

The order, filed on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, enters a $4.7 billion judgment against Mashinsky tied to losses stemming from the 2022 collapse of the Celsius crypto lending and borrowing platform.

However, most of the judgment is suspended, leaving Mashinsky on the hook for just $10 million unless it is later found that he "failed to disclose any material asset" or made other misstatements about his financial condition, according to the filing. 

In addition to the monetary penalty, the FTC permanently banned Mashinsky from "advertising, marketing, promoting, offering, or distributing" any product involving the deposit, exchange or investment of assets. 

In its complaint, the FTC said Mashinsky and other Celsius executives engaged in "deceptive and unfair acts or practices" in marketing crypto lending and custody services.

The order extends the $4.7 billion judgment tied to Celsius' bankruptcy to Mashinsky and includes imposing reporting and record-keeping requirements on him for up to 18 years.

Mashinsky is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in December 2024 to commodities fraud and a scheme to manipulate the price of Celsius’ native CEL token.

At sentencing last year, prosecutors said Mashinsky “orchestrated one of the biggest frauds in the crypto industry,” while Judge John G. Koeltl noted that victims lost their life savings and suffered psychologically.