New York Attorney General Letitia James has permanently barred former Celsius Network chief executive Alex Mashinsky from the securities, commodities and cryptocurrency industries under a settlement that could secure up to $35 million for the state and federal authorities.
The payment is conditional rather than an immediate $35 million award. Mashinsky must pay New York $25 million if he does not forfeit an additional $10 million in allegedly ill-gotten gains to the federal government under his plea agreement. A further $10 million would be payable if he fails to serve his full federal prison sentence.
According to Decrypt, the agreement adds a state-level industry ban to the criminal penalties and other restrictions already imposed on Mashinsky.
Allegations involving Celsius
James sued Mashinsky in 2023, alleging that he misled hundreds of thousands of investors about the safety of Celsius, a crypto lending platform that collapsed in 2022. More than 26,000 of the affected investors were in New York, according to the attorney general’s office.
The state’s investigation found that Mashinsky repeatedly described Celsius as safer than a bank. At the same time, the company used customer assets in high-risk strategies and concealed losses, the office said.
The attorney general’s office cited individual cases to illustrate the impact on customers. One New York resident mortgaged two properties to invest through Celsius, while a disabled veteran lost $36,000 accumulated over nearly a decade.
James said Mashinsky had presented Celsius as a secure place for New Yorkers’ savings before risky investments collapsed and left customers without their money. The permanent order prevents him from working in the securities, commodities or crypto industries.
Criminal case and existing penalties
Mashinsky is serving a 12-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to fraud charges. He was sentenced in May 2025, after prosecutors had sought a 20-year term, and was ordered to forfeit more than $48 million. He was arrested in July 2023 and released before trial on $40 million bail.
Mashinsky has asked a court to vacate his sentence. The settlement’s additional payment condition is tied to whether he serves the complete term.
Other regulators have also acted against him. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission permanently banned Mashinsky from trading, while he agreed to a $10 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission that bars him from the crypto industry.
Celsius creditors had received more than $3.4 billion through the company’s bankruptcy as of August 2026, according to the New York attorney general’s office. Mashinsky forfeited all claims to distributions from the bankruptcy.
Moneyiar market picture
Moneyiar market data at 11:49 a.m. on October 11, 2026, showed mixed moves among the listed assets:
- Sky (SKY): $0.0766840833, down 0.81% over 24 hours and 16.58% over seven days.
- Sentient (SENT): $0.0238669807, up 21.35% over 24 hours and 1.18% over seven days.
- Ailey (ALE): $0.2679301463, unchanged over 24 hours and down 0.6% over seven days.
- Comedian (BAN): $0.0607113008, up 0.04% over 24 hours and down 8.9% over seven days.
These market figures describe the selected assets at the stated time and are separate from the legal action against Mashinsky.
