Celsius co-founders Shlomi Daniel Leon and Hanoch “Nuke” Goldstein will pay a combined $6.5 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges tied to the collapsed crypto lender.
Summary
- Leon and Goldstein will pay $6.5 million combined under separate FTC settlements over Celsius claims.
- The FTC accused Celsius executives of falsely promoting customer deposits as safe and readily available.
- Mashinsky’s earlier $10 million settlement brings total payments from three Celsius co-founders to $16.5 million.
The FTC said Leon will pay $4.1 million, while Goldstein will pay $2.4 million under separate court orders.
The settlements end the FTC cases against the two executives and follow former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky’s $10 million agreement in April. The three co-founders will pay a combined $16.5 million under their respective settlements. The FTC accused them of misleading customers about the safety, availability and management of assets deposited with Celsius.
Leon, Celsius’ former chief strategy officer, must pay $4.1 million under an order entered by U.S. District Judge Denise Cote on June 29. The order also enters a $4.72 billion judgment against him, with most of that amount suspended if he meets the settlement terms and provided accurate financial disclosures to the FTC.
Goldstein, who served as Celsius’ chief technology officer, will pay $2.4 million, according to the FTC’s latest release. Both men also face limits on future business activities. Leon cannot market or sell services used to deposit, exchange, invest or withdraw assets. Goldstein faces a similar ban covering retail crypto products used to buy, sell, deposit, withdraw, distribute or trade digital assets.
The orders also prohibit the two executives from making false statements about products or services. They cannot violate provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act by obtaining customer financial information through false or fraudulent representations. Leon also faces restrictions on sharing consumers’ nonpublic personal information without informed consent.
FTC case focused on Celsius safety and reserve claims
The FTC filed its case against Celsius and its executives in July 2023. The regulator alleged that the company presented itself as a safer alternative to traditional banks while making claims about its reserves, lending practices and insurance coverage that were not accurate.
According to the regulator, Celsius told customers they could withdraw deposits at any time and claimed it maintained a $750 million insurance policy covering customer funds. The company also said it held enough reserves to meet customer obligations and did not make unsecured loans. The FTC alleged that Celsius instead made $1.2 billion in unsecured loans by April 2022 and lacked the insurance policy it advertised.
The FTC also accused executives of continuing to reassure customers as Celsius moved closer to bankruptcy. The regulator said they “continued to claim that customers’ deposits were safe days before the company filed for bankruptcy.” Celsius suspended customer withdrawals in June 2022 and filed for bankruptcy the following month.
Mashinsky faces separate bans after $10 million FTC deal
The latest settlements follow the FTC’s April agreement with Mashinsky.The former CEO agreed to pay $10 million and accepted a permanent ban on promoting or offering asset-related products. His order also included a $4.72 billion judgment, although most remains suspended under conditions set by the settlement.
Mashinsky later received another permanent restriction from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. As crypto.news reported in June, a federal court barred him from trading in markets overseen by the CFTC or registering with the agency. That settlement closed the regulator’s civil enforcement case against him and Celsius.
His criminal case remains separate from the FTC settlements. A federal judge sentenced Mashinsky to 12 years in prison in May 2025 after he pleaded guilty to commodities fraud and securities fraud. Prosecutors said he misled customers about Celsius’ financial condition, investment risks and yield-generating activities. The court also ordered him to forfeit more than $48 million.
Celsius creditors continue recovering funds after the collapse
Celsius held about $25 billion in assets at its peak before its business deteriorated during the 2022 crypto market downturn. When the company stopped withdrawals, hundreds of thousands of customers had about $4.7 billion in inaccessible assets on the platform, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The bankruptcy recovery process has continued separately from the cases against former executives. As previously reported, Celsius began a third creditor distribution worth about $220.6 million in August 2025, bringing total recoveries at the time to nearly 65% of eligible claims.
Another former Celsius executive, Roni Cohen-Pavon, also faced legal action over his role at the company. Crypto.news reported in May that he avoided additional prison time after cooperating with prosecutors in the Mashinsky case.
With the Leon and Goldstein orders now entered, the FTC has reached settlements with all three Celsius co-founders named in its 2023 case. The agency’s official case page still lists the broader proceeding as pending, while separate bankruptcy, securities and criminal matters have followed their own legal processes.
