Celsius co-founders ordered to pay $6.1M to FTC
Celsius co‑founders Shlomi Leon and Hanoch “Nuke” Goldstein were ordered to pay more than $6 million to the FTC for allegedly misrepresenting the platform’s safety before its 2022 collapse.
U.S. District Judge Denise Cote entered federal orders this month requiring Celsius co‑founders Shlomi Daniel Leon and Hanoch “Nuke” Goldstein to pay more than $6 million to the Federal Trade Commission. Goldstein was ordered to pay $2.014 million under an order signed Monday; Leon was ordered to pay $4.1 million under an order entered June 29.
The orders also restrict both men from marketing or selling products and services tied to cryptocurrency deposits, exchanges, investments or withdrawals. Goldstein agreed to a ban on marketing or selling retail products or services that can be used to buy, sell, deposit, withdraw, distribute or trade cryptocurrency. Leon is barred from marketing or selling products or services that can be used to deposit, exchange, invest or withdraw assets.
The FTC alleged that Celsius repeatedly told customers the platform held sufficient reserves to meet withdrawal demands, maintained a $750 million insurance policy covering customer deposits and did not issue unsecured loans. The agency alleged those representations were false and that executives continued to describe deposits as safe days before the company filed for bankruptcy in July 2022.
The ordered payments will be credited against a larger $4.72 billion judgment the FTC obtained in the case. In April, former CEO Alex Mashinsky reached a separate FTC settlement requiring a $10 million payment and a permanent ban on promoting asset‑related products; he later pleaded guilty to commodities and securities fraud and was sentenced in May 2025 to 12 years in prison.
At its peak, Celsius held about $25 billion in assets and owed roughly $4.7 billion to users when it filed for bankruptcy in July 2022. The collapse led to multiple civil and criminal actions; regulators have pursued monetary penalties and restrictions intended to limit the defendants’ roles in retail crypto services going forward.
In a statement, the FTC wrote that the judgments reflect the consumer harm it alleges occurred on the platform.
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