New York Attorney General Letitia James announced on October 9, 2026 that her office had reached a settlement with former Celsius Network CEO Alex Mashinsky that permanently bars him from the cryptocurrency, securities, and commodities industries and could require payments of up to $35 million.
The agreement resolves the civil lawsuit filed against Mashinsky in 2023, which accused him of misleading hundreds of thousands of investors—including more than 26,000 New York residents—about the safety of customer deposits and Celsius’s investment strategies. James said the investigation found Mashinsky repeatedly claimed Celsius was safer than a bank while customer assets were used in high-risk strategies whose losses were concealed.
Under the settlement terms, Mashinsky must pay $25 million to New York State if he fails to forfeit $10 million in ill-gotten gains to the federal government under his plea deal. He must pay an additional $10 million if he does not serve his full prison sentence, bringing the potential total to $35 million.
Mashinsky is currently serving a 12-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to securities and commodities fraud. He was sentenced in May 2025, ordered to forfeit more than $48 million, and was initially arrested in July 2023 before being released on $40 million bail. Prosecutors argued he promoted Celsius as a safer alternative to banks even as the platform used customer funds for risky investments and hid losses. He has also asked a court to vacate his sentence.
Celsius suspended customer withdrawals in June 2022 and filed for bankruptcy one month later. As of August 2026, customers and creditors had recovered more than $3.4 billion through bankruptcy proceedings, according to the attorney general’s office. The office also highlighted that one New York resident mortgaged two properties to invest with Celsius, and a disabled veteran lost $36,000 that had taken nearly a decade to save.
Other U.S. regulators have also acted against Mashinsky. In April, the Federal Trade Commission reached a settlement that included a suspended $4.7 billion judgment, a $10 million payment, and permanent restrictions on participating in financial and cryptocurrency services. In June, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission imposed permanent bans preventing him from trading and registering in markets under its supervision. Mashinsky also forfeited all of his claims to Celsius bankruptcy proceeds.
