Mashinsky to pay $10M, barred from promoting asset products

A stipulated order entered Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York requires Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky to pay $10 million to the Federal Trade Commission and bars him from promoting products or services that can be used to deposit, exchange, invest or withdraw assets. Judge Denise Cote signed the order.

The order states Mashinsky is permanently restrained and enjoined from advertising, marketing, promoting, offering or distributing any product or service that can be used to move or invest assets.

The court recorded a $4.72 billion monetary judgment in favor of the FTC but suspended most of that amount. The immediate monetary obligation is $10 million. The order permits that obligation to be satisfied instead if Mashinsky pays at least $10 million to the U.S. Department of Justice under a forfeiture order tied to his criminal case.

The suspension of the larger judgment is conditional. The FTC may ask the court to lift the suspension if it finds Mashinsky failed to disclose a material asset, misstated an asset’s value, or made another material misstatement or omission in financial disclosures. If lifted, the full $4.72 billion would become immediately due, reduced by any payments already made under the FTC order, amounts paid to consumers through the DOJ forfeiture, or amounts Mashinsky can show were paid to consumers by other defendants, including through the Celsius bankruptcy process.

In May 2025 Mashinsky pleaded guilty to commodities fraud and securities fraud and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Prosecutors alleged he misled customers about Celsius’s profitability, the risks of its investments and the safety of customer funds.

The FTC action and the criminal case are separate enforcement tracks. The order preserves the agency’s ability to seek consumer redress if future financial disclosures are found to be inaccurate.

The settlement follows Celsius Network’s collapse in 2022, when customers were unable to withdraw funds and the company entered bankruptcy. The order limits Mashinsky’s immediate payment while allowing the FTC to pursue a larger consumer claim if material disclosure problems emerge.