CFTC enters settlement with former Celsius CEO, imposes a permanent trading ban
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said it has settled its case against former Celsius CEO Alexander Mashinsky, who is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence.
On Thursday, the CFTC announced that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York had entered a consent order prohibiting Mashinsky from engaging in future violations of anti-fraud provisions and also imposing permanent bans on trading and registration.
Mashinsky was arrested in 2023 after U.S. prosecutors alleged he defrauded customers and misrepresented Celsius’ profitability. He pled guilty to one count of commodities fraud and one count of securities fraud and was later sentenced to 12 years in prison and ordered to pay almost $50 million in fines.
Celsius operated as a crypto lender that allowed customers to earn interest and take out loans. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2022 and was later wrapped up in 2024. As part of Celsius' wind-down, some funds were used to create a new bitcoin mining company called Ionic Digital.
The CFTC sued Celsius and Mashinsky in 2023 and said the former CEO defrauded customers and said he misrepresented the safety of the platform while engaging in risky investment strategies.
The Securities and Exchange Commission also sued the crypto lender and Mashinsky in 2023 for allegedly raising billions through fraudulent and unregistered sales of crypto, repeatedly lying to investors about Celsius’ financial standing and manipulating the price of CEL, the company's native token.
Last month, Mashinsky reached a $10 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission after the agency said Mashinsky and other Celsius executives engaged in "deceptive and unfair acts or practices" in marketing crypto lending and custody services.
Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
You may also like
Crypto’s Forgotten Middle Ground Is Stirring: 4 Altcoins With Room to Surprise 100x This Month
AI Fund Liquidation Impacts Proprietary Trading Giant, Jane Street Suffers Rare $15 Billion Monthly Loss and Rushes $11 Billion Debt Restructuring
According to reports, Jane Street has recorded its first monthly loss in a decade, suffering a significant loss in July. However, its net trading income for the year still exceeds $40 billion and is likely to set a new annual record. The losses are not entirely due to its investment in Situational Awareness; its long positions in non-AI Asian stocks have also suffered. This week, Jane Street is advancing about $14.6 billion in bond financing, led by JPMorgan Chase and involving major institutional investors such as Pimco and Fidelity. To restructure its debt, Jane Street is shifting more debt to private markets and is even willing to bear significantly higher financing costs in exchange for reduced public disclosure.
Chicago Fed President Goolsbee: Recent Cooling in Inflation is Encouraging, But More Data Needed to Confirm Return to 2% Target
Chicago Federal Reserve President Goolsbee stated that he is encouraged by the recent cooling of U.S. inflation, but he would like to see similar improvements in the coming months before being convinced that prices are continuously returning to the Federal Reserve's 2% target.
Overnight US Stocks | The Three Major Indexes Show Mixed Performance, SanDisk (SNDK.US) Rises 7.39%
At the close, the Dow Jones fell 107.57 points, or 0.2%, to 53,732.41 points; the S&P 500 Index fell 13.23 points, or 0.17%, to 7,785.76 points; and the Nasdaq dropped 73.86 points, or 0.28%, to 26,729.16 points.
Crypto prices
More
