New York Bars Alex Mashinsky From Crypto, Secures Up to $35 Million

Van Thanh Le

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PublishedOct 9, 2026

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UpdatedOct 9, 2026

6 hours ago3 minutes read

Robot stamping permanent ban on Celsius trading activities in court

Settlement sets conditional payments alongside permanent industry restrictions

TL;DR

New York Attorney General Letitia James secured up to $35 million from former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky and permanently barred him from the securities, commodities and cryptocurrency industries.
James accused Mashinsky of misleading hundreds of thousands of investors, including more than 26,000 New Yorkers, about the safety of Celsius deposits.
Mashinsky is serving a 12-year federal prison sentence, while Celsius customers and creditors have received more than $3.4 billion through bankruptcy proceedings.

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New York Attorney General Letitia James said Friday, Oct. 9, 2026, that she secured up to $35 million from former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky and a permanent ban preventing him from working in the securities, commodities or cryptocurrency industries. The settlement resolves the state’s case against Mashinsky over allegations that he defrauded investors.

James sued Mashinsky in 2023, accusing him of misleading hundreds of thousands of investors, including more than 26,000 New Yorkers, about the safety of their Celsius deposits. She also accused him of misrepresenting the crypto lender’s investment strategies while Celsius took risky investments and concealed losses.

“Alex Mashinsky promised New Yorkers that his company was a secure place to invest their hard-earned savings, only to leave them penniless when his risky investments collapsed,” James said in a statement.

New York settlement sets conditional payment obligations

The amount Mashinsky ultimately owes under the New York settlement depends on federal forfeiture and whether he serves his full prison sentence, according to the attorney general’s office. The Federal Trade Commission also reached a separate settlement with Mashinsky earlier in the year.

Action	Financial terms	Other terms
New York settlement	$25 million to the state if Mashinsky does not forfeit $10 million in ill-gotten gains to the federal government; a further $10 million if he fails to serve his full prison sentence	Permanent ban from the securities, commodities and cryptocurrency industries
FTC settlement in April	Suspended $4.7 billion judgment and $10 million payment	18-year reporting requirement and a ban on future involvement in the cryptocurrency and financial services industries

Mashinsky is serving a 12-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to securities and commodities fraud.

CFTC ban follows as Celsius creditors receive bankruptcy payments

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission reached its own settlement with Mashinsky in June, barring him from future anti-fraud violations and imposing permanent trading and registration bans.

Celsius froze customer withdrawals in June 2022 and filed for bankruptcy a month later. Customers and creditors have since received more than $3.4 billion through the bankruptcy proceedings.

“I will not allow scammers to use cryptocurrencies to prey on unsuspecting New Yorkers,” James said. “We took action to hold Mashinsky accountable, and now we are barring him from the securities industry so he cannot take advantage of investors again.”

This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.