New York bars Celsius co-founder Mashinsky from crypto for good, with up to $35 million hanging over him

New York has shut Alex Mashinsky out of finance for good. Attorney General Letitia James said on Friday, October 9, that the co-founder and former chief executive of the crypto lender Celsius Network is permanently banned from the securities, commodities and cryptocurrency industries, under a settlement that could also cost him up to $35 million.

The money is conditional. Mashinsky must pay New York $25 million if he fails to forfeit $10 million in ill-gotten gains to the federal government, on top of assets already given up under his federal plea agreement. He owes another $10 million if he does not serve his full prison sentence. He is serving 12 years and was ordered to forfeit more than $48 million in the federal case, the attorney general's office said.

James sued Mashinsky in 2023, accusing him of defrauding hundreds of thousands of investors, including more than 26,000 New Yorkers. Her office said he told them Celsius was safer than a bank and hid losses of hundreds of millions of dollars on risky investments. "I will not allow scammers to use cryptocurrencies to prey on unsuspecting New Yorkers," she said.

More than $3.4 billion had been distributed to creditors and investors in the Celsius bankruptcy as of August 2026, according to her office. The deal follows settlements with the Federal Trade Commission in April and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in June, The Block reported.

What to watch: whether Mashinsky completes the $10 million federal forfeiture, which decides if New York's $25 million comes due.