ChainThink report, on October 9, New York State Attorney General Letitia James announced a settlement with Alex Mashinsky, co-founder and former CEO of Celsius.

Mashinsky will be permanently barred from engaging in securities, commodities, and cryptocurrency industry activities, and may face a maximum penalty of $35 million.

Under the settlement agreement, Mashinsky must remit an additional $10 million in illicit proceeds to the federal government, beyond assets already seized, pursuant to the federal plea agreement; otherwise, he must pay $25 million to New York State.

If he fails to serve the full sentence, an additional $10 million must be paid to New York State.

The Office of the New York State Attorney General filed charges against Mashinsky in 2023, alleging he misled investors regarding Celsius’s security and other matters, defrauding hundreds of thousands of investors, including over 26,000 residents of New York State.

Mashinsky is currently serving a 12-year federal prison sentence and has been ordered to forfeit over $48 million. As of August 2026, the Celsius bankruptcy proceedings have distributed over $3.4 billion to creditors.