{"id":102,"date":"2026-08-03T12:43:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T12:43:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/?p=102"},"modified":"2026-08-03T12:43:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T12:43:20","slug":"founders-of-celsius-network-ordered-to-pay-16-5-million-to-resolve-ftc-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/?p=102","title":{"rendered":"Founders of Celsius Network Ordered to Pay $16.5 Million to Resolve FTC Charges"},"content":{"rendered":"

Proposed orders also ban defendants from marketing or selling products or services that can be used to deposit or withdraw assets<\/em><\/p>\n

Alexander Mashinsky, the former CEO of cryptocurrency platform Celsius Network Inc. (Celsius), and his business partners, Shlomi Daniel Leon and Hanoch \u201cNuke\u201d Goldstein, will pay a total of $16.5 million to resolve the Federal Trade Commission\u2019s charges that they deceived users by falsely promising that deposits made to their cryptocurrency platform would be safe and always available.<\/p>\n

Mashinsky and Leon have also agreed to a ban on marketing or selling products or services that can be used to deposit, exchange, invest or withdraw assets. 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.<\/p>\n

In its\u00a0July 2023 complaint<\/a>, the FTC alleged that Celsius and its co-founders promised consumers that Celsius was \u201csafer\u201d than a bank or other traditional financial institutions and misrepresented that their deposits were safe because Celsius earned profits at \u201cno risk\u201d to consumers by making secured loans to other exchanges.<\/p>\n

The FTC says the company and its top executives deceived users by falsely promising them that they could withdraw their deposits at any time, that the company maintained a $750 million insurance policy for deposits, that it had sufficient reserves to meet customer obligations and that those in its Earn program could earn rewards as high as 18% annual percentage yield on deposits. They also repeatedly claimed that the company did not make any unsecured loans. The FTC, however, alleged that the promises were false and that its top executives continued to claim that customers\u2019 deposits were safe\u00a0days before the company filed for bankruptcy.<\/p>\n

The settlement orders with the FTC require Mashinsky to pay $10 million, Leon to pay $4.1 million and Goldstein to pay $2.4 million. In addition,\u00a0the order with Mashinsky<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>the order with Leon<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>and the proposed order with Goldstein<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>will also prohibit the Celsius co-founders from:<\/p>\n