The co-founders of the collapsed crypto lending platform Celsius have reached a settlement with the US regulator. We break down the details.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has secured settlements with two Celsius co-founders–former Chief Strategy Officer Shlomi Daniel Leon and former CTO Hanoch Goldstein. Leon will pay $4.1M, Goldstein $2.014M.
Hot topic: Strategy’s Bitcoin Buying Freeze Hits Four Weeks as Cash Pile Grows
Both are permanently banned from marketing or selling any crypto-asset-related products. The payments will count toward the broader $4.72B judgment reflecting consumer losses from the platform’s collapse.
Contents
What the Celsius Co-founders Are Charged With
According to the FTC, Leon and Goldstein, along with former CEO Alex Mashinsky, misled customers about the platform’s safety. The regulator alleges the company falsely claimed it had sufficient reserves to meet withdrawal demands, that customer deposits were insured for $750M, and that Celsius did not make unsecured loans.
In reality, the FTC says, all of those claims were false. Executives continued to assure customers their funds were safe just days before filing for bankruptcy.
At its peak, Celsius managed $25B in assets. At the time of its July 2022 bankruptcy, it owed users $4.7B. The case became one of the most prominent in the 2022 crypto lender collapse. The settlement with Leon and Goldstein expands the fallout beyond the former CEO’s case.
Read more: The Darkest Days in Crypto History — 5 Market Crashes That Changed the Industry Forever
The Mashinsky Case: 12 Years in Prison and Bans
Former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky was sentenced to 12 years in prison in May 2025 after pleading guilty to securities and commodities fraud. Prosecutors said he misled clients about the company’s profitability, investment risks, and fund safety.
In April 2026, Mashinsky agreed to a $10M FTC settlement as part of the same $4.72B judgment, along with a lifetime ban on marketing asset-related products. In June, the CFTC secured a permanent ban on Mashinsky from trading on regulated markets and registering with the agency.
Learn more: Beyond Bitcoin ETFs — Where Smart Institutional Money Is Moving Next in 2026
