U.S. District Judge Denise Cote on April 28 signed off on a $10 million settlement between the Federal Trade Commission and Alex Mashinsky, the founder of collapsed crypto lender Celsius Network, according to court documents.

The settlement permanently bans Mashinsky from promoting or operating any product or service involving the deposit, exchange, investment, or withdrawal of “assets” broadly, which could bar him from financial services beyond crypto.

The stipulated order enters a $4.72 billion monetary judgment against Mashinsky, though his actual cash payment to the FTC is capped at $10 million. That obligation will be considered satisfied if Mashinsky pays an equivalent amount to the Department of Justice under a separate forfeiture order tied to his criminal case, the court filing notes.

The order also permanently enjoins Mashinsky from misrepresenting any product or service he promotes.

The civil settlement follows Mashinsky's sentencing last May, when a federal judge ordered him to serve 12 years in prison for fraud and market manipulation — specifically for artificially inflating the price of Celsius's CEL token while secretly selling his own holdings.

Celsius froze customer withdrawals in June 2022, cratering crypto markets and trapping funds belonging to 1.7 million users before the platform filed for bankruptcy the following month, as The Defiant reported. A former partner had already alleged in 2022 that Celsius was operating a Ponzi scheme, with customer funds used to manipulate CEL's price — accusations that ultimately proved accurate.

The $4.72 billion judgment reflects the full scope of harm to consumers, even if most of it remains uncollectable.

This article was written with the assistance of AI workflows. All our stories are curated, edited and fact-checked by a human.