CFTC wins consent order, bans ex-Celsius CEO Mashinsky

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission settled its enforcement case against Alexander Mashinsky, and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a consent order on Thursday that bars him from trading and from registration for life and prohibits future violations of the commission’s anti-fraud rules.

Mashinsky is serving a 12-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to one count each of commodities fraud and securities fraud following his 2023 arrest. A judge in the criminal case ordered him to pay nearly $50 million in fines.

The CFTC sued Mashinsky and Celsius in 2023, alleging he misled customers about the safety and profitability of Celsius’s lending platform and pursued risky investment strategies. The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a separate suit that year accusing Mashinsky and the company of raising billions through unregistered token sales, making false statements about Celsius’s financial condition and manipulating the price of CEL, the company’s native token.

Celsius operated as a crypto lender that allowed customers to earn interest and borrow against digital assets. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in 2022 after a run on customer withdrawals and was wound down in 2024. Funds from the wind-down were used in part to establish Ionic Digital, a bitcoin mining company.

Last month Mashinsky reached a $10 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over allegations that he and other executives engaged in deceptive and unfair marketing of Celsius’s lending and custody services.

The CFTC consent order resolves the agency’s civil claims against Mashinsky. Criminal penalties and separate regulatory actions, including the SEC matter and the FTC settlement, remain part of the wider legal aftermath of Celsius’s collapse.