CFTC Hits Celsius Crypto Fraudster Alex Mashinsky With Permanent Trading Ban

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has resolved its 2023 enforcement action against Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky, permanently banning him from trading markets regulated by the CFTC. 

The consent order also imposes a permanent CFTC registration ban on the former crypto founder, and marks the completion of the regulator’s first case against a digital asset lending platform, according to its 2023 press release.

Mashinsky, who also acted as the CEO of Celsius, was imprisoned for 12 years after pleading guilty to counts of securities and commodities fraud related to the unraveling of his lending business, which paused withdrawals and left customers without access to billions of dollars’ worth of deposits.  

Shortly thereafter, Celsius filed for bankruptcy as it attempted to stabilize its business. Its actions were unsuccessful, though, and customers ended up losing more than $5 billion.

Alongside criminal charges as a result of his actions, Mashinsky faced civil lawsuits from the SEC and FTC, in addition to the CFTC, some of which alleged he stole around $42 million from customers.

Earlier this year, the Federal Trade Commission and Mashinsky reached a settlement which brought an initial $4.7 billion judgment down to just $10 million, though it can be lifted if the regulator finds he failed to materially disclose assets. The settlement also permanently banned Mashinsky from ever working in the cryptocurrency ecosystem again.

In May, just over a year after his sentencing, Mashinsky filed a handwritten motion to vacate his 12-year prison sentence, citing ineffective counsel and a conflict of interest due to his legal firm’s engagement with FTX co-founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, better known as SBF.

Mashinsky claims that it was SBF that manipulated his firm’s Celsius token (CEL) and led to harm for his firm and its customers. Bankman-Fried is serving his own 25-year prison sentence for his fraud convictions tied to the downfall of FTX, and just last week lost a bid to overturn his sentence and conviction.