Celsius executives hit with $6M FTC fines, industry bans
Two former Celsius executives have agreed to pay over $6 million and accept lifetime industry bans, extending the regulatory crackdown on the failed crypto lender's leadership.
Shlomi Daniel Leon and Hanoch “Nuke” Goldstein, the former chief strategy officer and chief technology officer of Celsius, have been ordered to pay a combined $6.114 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges. The settlements resolve allegations that the executives misled customers about the safety of their funds before the crypto lending platform collapsed in 2022.
Under an order entered on June 29, Leon was ordered to pay $4.1 million. Goldstein was ordered to pay $2.014 million under a separate order signed Monday by US District Judge Denise Cote. Both financial penalties will be credited against a broader, partially suspended $4.72 billion judgment tied to the case.
The FTC accused the co-founders of deceiving customers by falsely claiming Celsius held sufficient reserves to meet withdrawal demands. Regulators said the platform did not maintain a $750 million insurance policy covering customer deposits, contrary to executive claims, and that it issued unsecured loans despite assurances to the contrary.
The FTC noted that top executives continued to assure customers their deposits were safe just days before Celsius filed for bankruptcy in July 2022. At the time of its collapse, the platform owed its users $4.7 billion, having managed $25 billion in assets at its peak.
Beyond the financial penalties, the settlements effectively end the executives' careers in digital assets. Leon is permanently barred from marketing or selling products used to deposit, exchange, invest, or withdraw assets. Goldstein received a similar ban, specifically prohibited from marketing or selling retail products tied to buying, selling, depositing, withdrawing, distributing, or trading cryptocurrency.
The orders complete the FTC’s regulatory pursuit of Celsius’s top tier, following former CEO Alex Mashinsky’s $10 million settlement in April. Mashinsky is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in May 2025 to commodities and securities fraud charges.
For market participants, the resolutions underscore the severe personal liability facing crypto executives who misstate reserve levels or risk profiles. While the $6.1 million in new fines is negligible against the billions in customer losses, the lifetime marketing bans signal that US regulators will prioritize permanently removing bad actors from the financial system.
