Celsius co-founders Leon, Goldstein to pay FTC over $6M

Celsius co-founders Shlomi Daniel Leon and Hanoch “Nuke” Goldstein have been ordered by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to pay over $6 million to settle charges related to allegedly misrepresenting the safety of the Celsius platform before its collapse. Specifically, Goldstein, the former chief technology officer, was ordered to pay $2.014 million, while Leon, the former chief strategy officer, was ordered to pay $4.1 million. Separate court orders signed by US District Judge Denise Cote formalized these settlements.

The FTC allegations claim that Celsius made false promises to customers about maintaining sufficient reserves to meet withdrawal requests, holding a $750 million insurance policy on customer deposits, and avoiding unsecured loans. According to the FTC, these claims were untrue, and Celsius executives continued to assert the safety of customer deposits even days before the company filed for bankruptcy in July 2022. At its peak, Celsius managed $25 billion in assets but owed users $4.7 billion when it filed for bankruptcy.

These settlements expand the legal consequences beyond former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky, who previously agreed to a $10 million FTC settlement in April. Mashinsky’s settlement includes a permanent ban from promoting asset-related products, and the payments from Goldstein and Leon will be credited against a broader $4.72 billion judgment related to consumer harm. Additionally, the FTC has imposed bans on Leon and Goldstein from marketing or selling certain financial and cryptocurrency-related products or services.

Separately, Alex Mashinsky was sentenced in May 2025 to 12 years in prison for commodities and securities fraud, after pleading guilty to misleading Celsius customers about the company’s financial health and the safety of their funds. The FTC and the courts continue to address the fallout from Celsius’s collapse and the alleged misleading conduct by its former executives.