Celsius Founder Alex Mashinsky Settles FTC Charges for $10 Million

Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky has agreed to pay $10 million to settle charges brought by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over misleading Celsius customers about the safety of their funds.

The FTC alleged that Mashinsky and two other executives, Shlomi Daniel Leon and Hanoch 'Nuke' Goldstein, convinced customers that Celsius was a secure place to keep their crypto assets while making promises that did not match the company's actual financial condition.

The three executives will pay a combined $16.5 million, with Mashinsky paying $10 million, Leon $4.1 million, and Goldstein $2.4 million.

Under the settlement, Mashinsky and Leon are permanently barred from marketing or selling products that allow customers to deposit, exchange, invest in, or withdraw assets, while Goldstein is banned from marketing retail products and services used to buy, sell, deposit, withdraw, distribute, or trade cryptocurrencies.