Celsius co-founders Leon, Goldstein to pay FTC over $6M

Celsius co-founders Shlomi Daniel Leon and Hanoch “Nuke” Goldstein have been ordered to pay over $6 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges alleging they misrepresented the safety of the Celsius platform before the company collapsed. 

Goldstein, Celsius’ former chief technology officer, was ordered to pay $2.014 million under an order signed Monday by US District Judge Denise Cote. Leon, the firm’s former chief strategy officer, was ordered to pay $4.1 million under a separate order entered on June 29. 

The settlements extend the fallout from the 2022 collapse of Celsius beyond its former CEO Alex Mashinsky. The crypto lending platform, which held $25 billion in assets at its peak, owed its users $4.7 billion when it filed for bankruptcy in July 2022. 

The order also bars Leon from marketing or selling products or services that can be used to deposit, exchange, invest or withdraw assets, the FTC said in a statement Monday. 

“Similarly, Goldstein has agreed to a ban on marketing or selling retail products or services that can be used to buy, sell, deposit, withdraw, distribute or trade cryptocurrency.”

Related: Celsius’ Mashinsky gets permanent trading ban in CFTC settlement

FTC allegations against Celsius co-founders 

The FTC alleged that Celsius falsely told customers it held sufficient reserves to meet withdrawal demands, maintained a $750 million insurance policy covering customer deposits and did not issue unsecured loans. 

“The FTC, however, alleged that the promises were false and that its top executives continued to claim that customers’ deposits were safe days before the company filed for bankruptcy,” it said. 

Mashinsky settles FTC case for $10 million

In April, Mashinsky agreed to an FTC settlement that permanently bars him from promoting asset-related products and required him to pay $10 million as part of a broader, partially suspended $4.72 billion judgment. 

The $2.014 million and $4.1 million payments from Goldstein and Leon, respectively, will also be credited against the $4.72 billion judgment. The judgments reflect the consumer harm alleged by the FTC. 

Separately, Mashinsky was sentenced to 12 years in prison in May 2025 after pleading guilty to commodities and securities fraud charges, with prosecutors saying he misled Celsius customers about the company’s profitability, investment risks and the safety of customer funds. 

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