The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Thursday entered a consent order resolving the CFTC’s 2023 enforcement action against Celsius Network founder and former CEO Alexander Mashinsky.
The order permanently bars Mashinsky from trading commodity interests, soliciting funds for commodity trades, seeking CFTC registration, and acting as a principal or agent for any CFTC-registered firm. He admitted to violating the anti-fraud provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC Regulation 180.1.
The remaining counts in the CFTC’s complaint, Counts II through IV, were dismissed with prejudice as part of the settlement.
The CFTC originally filed its complaint on July 13, 2023, alleging that from 2018 through at least June 2022, Mashinsky and Celsius misrepresented the safety and profitability of the firm’s digital asset lending platform while engaging in risky investment strategies. The agency said Celsius received approximately $20 billion in customer funds before freezing withdrawals and filing for bankruptcy in mid-2022.
The civil case had been stayed during a parallel criminal prosecution. Mashinsky pled guilty in December 2024 to one count each of commodities fraud and securities fraud, and was sentenced in May 2025 to 12 years in prison.
Celsius itself consented to a permanent injunction in July 2023, leaving Mashinsky as the sole remaining defendant until Thursday’s resolution.
