Bankrupt Company Celsius Network Agrees to Pay $4.7B in FTC Settlement

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced that Celsius Network has agreed to pay a total of $4.7 billion in a settlement of claims.

As part of the agreement, the crypto lending platform is now “permanently prohibited” from offering, selling, or promoting any product or service related to depositing, exchanging, investing, or withdrawing any asset.

The FTC explained that Celsius had misappropriated its customers’ crypto funds, totaling over $4 billion, and used them to fund their operations, offer rewards to other customers, borrow from other institutions, and make high-risk investments.

Additionally, the platform’s founders – Alex Mashinsky, Nyuk Goldshtein, and S. Daniel Leon – had engaged in defrauding customers and making false statements, and had not agreed to a settlement agreement.

Furthermore, the $4.7 billion judgment will be suspended to allow Celsius to return the remaining funds to customers as part of a bankruptcy proceeding.