Alex Mashinsky, Celsius Network’s founder and former CEO, was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison on May 8, 2025, after pleading guilty to commodities fraud and securities fraud. The sentence also includes three years of supervised release, a $50,000 fine and forfeiture of $48,393,446, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
What Mashinsky admitted to
Mashinsky pleaded guilty on December 3, 2024, to one count of commodities fraud and one count of securities fraud. The Justice Department said the conduct involved two schemes: misrepresenting Celsius’s success, profitability, investments made with customer funds and associated risks; and manipulating the price of Celsius’s CEL token while secretly selling his own CEL holdings. The plea and the allegations described in the release are set out in the DOJ’s guilty-plea announcement.
Celsius offered rewards through its Earn program, held customers’ crypto in custody and made loans secured by crypto collateral. Prosecutors said Mashinsky marketed Celsius as safe while misrepresenting its yield-generating activities, profitability, the sustainability of rewards and the risks of depositing assets. U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said, “The rules against fraud still apply, and the SDNY will hold those who flout them accountable for their crimes.”
How Celsius’s withdrawal halt affected customers
According to the DOJ’s sentencing release, Celsius had about $25 billion in assets at its peak in fall 2021. Before the company halted withdrawals on June 12, 2022, Mashinsky had withdrawn approximately $8 million in his own non-CEL crypto assets. When withdrawals stopped, hundreds of thousands of customers had about $4.7 billion in assets inaccessible on the platform. Celsius filed for bankruptcy on July 13, 2022.
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallThe $4.7 billion figure describes assets that customers could not access when withdrawals were halted; it is not a measure of final losses or of how much remains unrecovered. Nor does the chronology alone establish that Mashinsky’s withdrawals caused the halt. The figures and events are reported by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
What the sentence includes—and what it does not
Judge John G. Koeltl imposed the sentence in federal court on May 8, 2025. The criminal judgment’s prison term, supervised release, fine and forfeiture are separate components:
| Criminal measure | What DOJ reported |
|---|---|
| Prison | 12 years |
| Supervised release | Three years |
| Fine | $50,000 |
| Forfeiture | $48,393,446 |
The fine and forfeiture are distinct amounts. The forfeiture is not, by itself, proof that creditors were reimbursed, and it should not be treated as the same thing as bankruptcy distributions or civil monetary relief. The DOJ release identifies the sentence and penalties but does not establish that every amount has been collected or paid.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Later regulator actions are separate from the criminal judgment
Subsequent civil actions by regulators do not change what the criminal court imposed. Their measures have different purposes and legal terms:
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| Date and agency | Person or parties covered | Reported measure |
|---|---|---|
| May 8, 2025 — U.S. District Court, in the DOJ criminal case | Alex Mashinsky | 12 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a $50,000 fine and $48,393,446 in forfeiture, as reported by DOJ. |
| June 18, 2026 — Commodity Futures Trading Commission | Mashinsky | A consent order resolving the CFTC’s 2023 enforcement action permanently enjoins specified anti-fraud violations and imposes permanent trading and registration bans, according to the CFTC. |
| July 2026 — Federal Trade Commission | Celsius founders; reported portion attributed to Mashinsky | An FTC search-result record reports a $16.5 million total payment order to resolve charges against the founders, with $10 million attributed to Mashinsky. The record does not establish collection or payment, and further terms should not be inferred from the announcement alone. See the FTC announcement. |
The FTC-reported $10 million is not the criminal fine or forfeiture, and the $16.5 million total covers the founders rather than Mashinsky alone. These civil figures should not be added to the criminal penalties as if they were one payment or treated as proof of creditor recovery.
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