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CFTC resolves enforcement action against Celsius founder Alexander Mashinsky with permanent trading ban

CFTC resolves enforcement action against Celsius founder Alexander Mashinsky with permanent trading ban

The June 18 consent order bars Mashinsky from commodity trading, customer solicitation and CFTC-registered roles, adding to criminal and civil penalties tied to Celsius’s collapse.

Fact Check
Multiple independent credible outlets confirm the core claim. The Block details that the CFTC entered a consent order in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York permanently banning Mashinsky from trading and registration. CoinDesk confirms the final resolution and CFTC registration ban. Law360 corroborates that a federal judge approved the trading ban. All sources agree the action resolves the CFTC's 2023 enforcement case against Mashinsky/Celsius. The framing of 'permanent trading ban' and 'resolves enforcement action' is consistent across sources. The only minor nuance is that it is a court-approved consent order rather than a purely administrative CFTC action, but this still constitutes the CFTC resolving its action with a permanent ban.
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Summary

Alexander Mashinsky, the founder of Celsius, has been permanently banned by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission from commodity trading and CFTC registration under a June 18 consent order entered in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, closing the agency’s July 2023 fraud case. The order bars him from trading any CFTC-regulated commodity, soliciting customer funds for commodity transactions, applying for CFTC registration, and serving in senior or operational roles at a CFTC-registered firm. Mashinsky did not contest the order. The ruling completes what the CFTC has described as its first crypto-lending enforcement action. Celsius settled with the regulator through a permanent injunction shortly after the July 2023 complaint, leaving Mashinsky as the only remaining defendant. The case centered on allegations that Celsius marketed itself from 2018 through at least June 2022 as a safe place to deposit crypto and earn weekly yields, while pooling customer assets into uncollateralized lending and volatile DeFi positions. The platform took in roughly $20 billion in customer assets before suspending withdrawals on June 12, 2022 and filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 13, 2022. The CFTC order adds to a broader set of penalties from other federal authorities. In May 2025, Judge John G. Koeltl sentenced Mashinsky to 12 years in prison after his December 2024 guilty plea to commodities fraud and securities fraud, and also imposed a $50,000 fine and about $48.4 million in forfeiture. The Federal Trade Commission secured a $4.72 billion civil judgment tied to customer losses, with Mashinsky required to pay $10 million up front and the rest suspended if he maintains accurate financial disclosures, and separately imposed a lifetime ban on marketing or offering consumer products involving the deposit, exchange, investment or custody of assets. A civil SEC lawsuit remains ongoing over alleged unregistered securities offerings through Celsius’s Earn program, alleged misstatements about the company’s financial health, and alleged manipulation of CEL token prices.

Terms & Concepts
  • CFTC registration: Official authorization required to operate in certain regulated roles under the U.S. commodities regulator.
  • DeFi positions: Trades or investments made through decentralized finance protocols, which can carry significant market and liquidity risk.
  • Chapter 11 bankruptcy: A U.S. court process that allows a company to reorganize its debts under judicial supervision.