CFTC says court order resolves Celsius founder Mashinsky case with permanent bans
The CFTC said a federal court order resolved its enforcement action against Celsius founder Alexander Mashinsky, imposing permanent anti-fraud, trading and registration bans.
A federal court in the Southern District of New York has entered a consent order resolving the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s 2023 enforcement action against Alexander Mashinsky, the founder and former chief executive of Celsius Network LLC.
The order permanently bars Mashinsky from violating certain anti-fraud provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations. It also imposes permanent trading and registration bans, the agency said in a June 18, 2026 press release.
What the CFTC alleged
The CFTC filed its complaint against Celsius and Mashinsky on July 13, 2023, in SDNY. The agency alleged that from 2018 through at least June 2022, the company and its founder defrauded hundreds of thousands of customers by misrepresenting the safety, profitability and regulatory compliance of the platform.
According to the press release, Celsius operated a platform where customers pooled digital assets so the company could deploy them to generate revenue that was then returned as weekly interest payments or rewards. The CFTC said Mashinsky promoted Celsius through videos, blog posts, livestreams, social media posts and the company website as a safe, bank-like alternative while promising high-yield returns.
The release also said Celsius used increasingly risky strategies, including millions of dollars in uncollateralized loans and unregulated decentralized finance agreements, while customers were told their assets were safe and earning rewards. The agency said Celsius suffered devastating losses, customer funds were not secure and the company eventually filed for bankruptcy.
The CFTC said Celsius received approximately $20 billion in funds in total. It also said the court entered a permanent injunction against Celsius on July 17, 2023, leaving Mashinsky as the only remaining defendant in the civil case.
What officials said
The CFTC’s press release did not include a direct quote from Mashinsky or a detailed court filing summary beyond the terms of the consent order. It said the order permanently enjoins him from further violations of specified anti-fraud provisions and bars him from trading and registration with the agency.
The release also pointed to a parallel criminal case filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York on July 11, 2023. It said Mashinsky pleaded guilty on Dec. 3, 2024, to one count of commodities fraud and one count of securities fraud, and was sentenced on May 8, 2025, to 12 years in prison, a $50,000 fine and forfeiture of $48,393,446.
What happens next
The CFTC said the consent order resolves its enforcement action against Mashinsky. The agency’s release did not indicate any further civil proceedings tied to the case.
Sources
Editorial note: This article was prepared with AI assistance and includes source attribution for reader review.
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