Former Celsius CEO Reaches $10M Settlement with FTC, Receives Lifetime Financial Services Ban

Convicted Israeli-American fraudster and former CEO of Celsius Network Alexander Mashinsky has reached a $10M settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for his role in the bankruptcy of crypto lending platform Celsius Network.

What's the Scoop?

• Guilty Plea: On July 13, 2023, Celsius Network agreed to a $4.7 billion settlement with the FTC and CEO Mashinsky was arrested and charged with a litany of fraud-related felonies. Subsequently, in December 2o24, Mashinsky pleaded guilty to one count of commodities fraud and one count of securities fraud, for which he agreed to forfeit $48M and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
• Suspended Judgement: Although the FTC issued a massive $4.7B judgment tied to Celsius’ 2022 collapse, all but $10M will be suspended (unless Mashinsky has misrepresented his finances). Per the judgement, Mashinsky is permanently banned from participating in the crypto or financial services sectors, including promoting, offering, or managing investment products.
• Deceptive Practices: The FTC accused Mashinsky and Celsius executives of misleading users about the safety and nature of its yield-generating crypto products. The 470-page Pillay report, authored by a court-appointed Celsius bankruptcy examiner, noted that Mashinsky repeatedly misrepresented Celsius's CEL token as "registered" with the SEC and personally manipulated the token's reward rate, pumping its price and personally profiting from the artificially inflated valuation as part of an overarching pyramid scheme that ultimately wiped out billions of dollars in customer deposits.