纽约州对Celsius创始人马辛斯基处以3500万美元欺诈和解金

New York Attorney General reaches settlement with former Celsius CEO: Masinsky is permanently banned from working in the cryptocurrency industry

On Friday, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky has reached a settlement agreement with the state government. Under the agreement, Masinsky will be permanently banned from working in the cryptocurrency, securities and commodities industries. In addition, the agreement also provides for conditional fines of up to $35 million, depending on whether Masinsky gives up more assets and completes his sentence.

According to the New York State Attorney General's Office, the settlement resolves a civil lawsuit filed in 2023 alleging Masinsky misled the platform's security to hundreds of thousands of investors before the collapse of Celsius in 2022.

Core Points

• Industry Ban: New York State has imposed a permanent industry ban on Alex Masinsky, covering work in the cryptocurrency, securities and commodities sectors.
• Conditional fines: Masinsky is liable to pay up to US$35 million if certain asset forfeiture and sentencing conditions are not met.
• Criminal sentence: Masinsky is currently serving a 12-year federal prison sentence for securities and commodity fraud.
• Background for regulatory action: Prior to New York State's latest agreement, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had imposed bans and penalties, respectively.
• Victim compensation: Celsius's collapse created a huge funding gap, but New York state said billions of dollars have been distributed to creditors through bankruptcy proceedings.

Permanent injunction linked to conditional penalties

Under the settlement reached on Friday, Masinsky must pay New York State $25 million if he fails to relinquish an additional $10 million in assets to the federal government (in addition to confiscated assets). The agreement also stipulates that if he fails to serve his full sentence, he will have to pay an additional $10 million.

The New York State Attorney General's Office described the clause as an accountability measure in response to what it called "promising investors that Celsius is a safe place to store savings, only to end up with customers losing money they thought they were protected."

New York Attorney General Letitia James pointed out in the announcement that the settlement also involved allegations that Masinsky still promoted Celsius as a safe and reliable platform even as its risk profile deteriorated.

How Celsius marketed to customers

New York State's 2023 lawsuit describes Masinsky marketing Celsius as a safer alternative to traditional banks while providing high-yield returns. The indictment alleges that Celsius advertised interest rates as high as 17%, while concealing high-risk investment positions and accumulating losses.

在该案中，纽约州还指出了该公司的规模及其压力点。根据起诉书，截至2022年初，Celsius吸引了约200亿美元的数字资产，但难以产生足够的收入来维持承诺的回报，从而导致越来越冒险的行为。纽约州投诉中引用的法院记录显示，商品期货交易委员会（CFTC）后来强调了收益承诺与其支持能力之间的不匹配。

这一时间线最终导致客户面临流动性危机：Celsius于2022年6月冻结了客户的提款，并在次月申请破产。其破产披露文件显示，资产与负债之间存在超过10亿美元的缺口。

纽约州进一步表示，截至2026年8月，通过破产程序已向Celsius债权人分配了超过34亿美元，凸显了该平台失败后漫长的清理过程。

该案在美国执法体系中的定位

周五的纽约州和解协议是在其他美国监管机构和法院采取先前行动之后达成的。据引用CFTC执法行动的报道，今年6月，商品期货交易委员会（CFTC）永久禁止马辛斯基在该机构进行交易和注册。

Earlier, a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) settlement in April banned him from working in the cryptocurrency and finance industries and required a $10 million payment, along with a mostly suspended $4.72 billion judgment. Separately, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reached an agreement in principle with Masinsky in September to resolve his civil lawsuit; a federal judge suspended the case on September 29 pending the signing of a final settlement.

On the criminal front, Masinsky is serving a 12-year federal prison sentence for fraud. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the federal case is based on a plea agreement in which he pleaded guilty in December 2024 to securities and commodity fraud.

Continuing attempts to overturn convictions

Despite growing regulatory restrictions, Masinsky is still working to challenge the basis of federal convictions and sentencing. Since May, he has been seeking to revoke the sentence and defend himself in the process.

Federal prosecutors reportedly opposed the attempt in August, calling its arguments "baseless." The judge rejected his request to collect evidence, and a subsequent order issued on October 5 upheld the original decision.

Masinsky was asked to respond to the government's objections by December 11. The settlement's conditional payment structure makes compliance schedules particularly important: If he fails to serve his full sentence, an additional $10 million to New York State will become due.

对于投资者和行业参与者来说，现在的关键问题是这些重叠的执法轨道——刑事处罚、民事监管机构禁令以及破产分配——如何继续塑造加密借贷和托管模式的边界。人们应关注马辛斯基的请愿书进展如何，以及是否有进一步的和解或命令收紧对与Celsius时代行为相关的其他人物的限制。