The CFTC has permanently banned Alex Mashinsky from commodities trading and registration, closing its case against the imprisoned former Celsius CEO.
Crypto News
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has formally closed its case against Alexander Mashinsky, the former chief executive of collapsed crypto lender Celsius Network. A U.S. District Court in New York entered a consent order on Thursday permanently banning him from commodities trading and barring him from ever registering with the agency again.
The order provides a regulatory capstone to a criminal case that ended with Mashinsky behind bars. He is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to one count of commodities fraud and one count of securities fraud. He was also ordered to return $48 million and pay a $50,000 fine.
Scheme to Defraud Hundreds of Thousands
The CFTC filed its case against Mashinsky and Celsius in 2023, saying he misled customers about the safety, profitability, and regulatory compliance of the platform while Celsius was quietly suffering severe losses. "While continuing to tell its customers their assets were safe and earning rewards, Celsius suffered devastating losses," the CFTC said in a statement Thursday.
The agency did not impose any new financial penalties as part of Thursday's consent order, describing the permanent ban as the final resolution of its case. The arrangement was recorded in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and was approved by a judge on June 18.
Celsius operated as a crypto lending platform, allowing customers to earn interest on deposits and take out loans backed by digital assets. The company filed for bankruptcy in July 2022 after halting customer withdrawals. It formally wound down in 2024, with some of its remaining assets used to establish a new Bitcoin (BTC) mining company called Ionic Digital.
Mashinsky was arrested in 2023 after federal prosecutors alleged he defrauded customers and misrepresented the state of Celsius' finances over an extended period. He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2025.
Read More: SEC, CFTC and FTC Sued Celsius, CEO Mashinsky Arrested and Charged by DOJ
Last month, Mashinsky also reached a $10 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission after the agency said he and other Celsius executives engaged in deceptive and unfair practices in marketing the platform's crypto lending and custody services.
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