New York AG secures industry ban and up to $35 million from Alex Mashinsky

New York Attorney General Letitia James permanently barred former Celsius Network CEO Alex Mashinsky from the securities, commodities and crypto industries, James's office announced Friday. James's office also announced conditional payments of up to $35 million from Mashinsky. Mashinsky must pay New York $25 million if Mashinsky fails to forfeit a further $10 million in ill-gotten gains to the federal government under Mashinsky's plea agreement. Mashinsky must pay New York $10 million if Mashinsky does not serve the full prison sentence. Mashinsky has asked a court to vacate the 12-year sentence.

James sued Mashinsky in 2023, accusing Mashinsky of defrauding hundreds of thousands of investors, including more than 26,000 in New York. James accused Mashinsky of misleading investors about the safety of Celsius, the crypto lending platform that collapsed in 2022. James's office found that Mashinsky repeatedly claimed Celsius was safer than a bank. The investigation found that customers' assets funded high-risk strategies whose losses Mashinsky concealed.

The attorney general's office said one New York resident mortgaged two properties to invest with Celsius. The office said a disabled veteran lost $36,000 that had taken nearly a decade to save. James said Mashinsky promised New Yorkers a secure place to invest savings but left those investors penniless when Mashinsky's risky investments collapsed.

Mashinsky was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison in May 2025 after pleading guilty to fraud charges. Prosecutors had sought 20 years. Mashinsky was also ordered to forfeit more than $48 million. Mashinsky was arrested in July 2023 and released on $40 million bail ahead of trial.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission permanently banned Mashinsky from trading. Mashinsky agreed to a $10 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission that bars Mashinsky from the crypto industry. The attorney general's office said Celsius creditors had received more than $3.4 billion through the company's bankruptcy as of August 2026. Mashinsky forfeited all of Mashinsky's claims to the bankruptcy proceeds.