Celsius Network
Valued at $3.25 billion in November 2021; in Chapter 11 eight months later
A Hoboken, New Jersey crypto platform that paid interest on customers' crypto deposits, lent against crypto collateral, and issued its own CEL token.
- Capital raised (announced)
- Estimated
Sum of disclosed token sale and equity rounds; the 2020 crowdfunding amount was reported as more than its stated threshold.
- Owed to users at filing
July 2022 bankruptcy-period reporting; amounts owed are distinct from subsequently distributed assets.
- Balance-sheet deficit at filing
July 2022 bankruptcy-period reporting; amounts owed are distinct from subsequently distributed assets.
- Creditors listed at filing
July 2022 bankruptcy-period reporting; amounts owed are distinct from subsequently distributed assets.
- Customers in June 2022
- Estimated
Company-reported customers in June 2022; not an independent count of active accounts.
Funding
| Round | Date | Announced | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 equity round (crowdfunding) | 2020 | ||
| Series B | 2021 | ||
| CEL token sale (ICO) | Unknown | Not disclosed |
Announced is what was said at the time. Cash actually received is rarely disclosed and is not assumed to match.
People
| Name | Role | Period | Now | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Mashinsky | Unknown – Sep 2022 | In federal custody, projected release date 5 July 2035 | Oct 2026 | |
| Shlomi Daniel Leon | — | Not established | Oct 2026 | |
| Hanoch "Nuke" Goldstein | — | Not established | Oct 2026 |
Timeline
2017
Started by Alex Mashinsky, Daniel Leon and Nuke Goldstein.
2018
Sources differ on the month, March or May 2018. The chief executive later told CoinDesk that about $32 million worth of crypto remained once the sale's marketing budget was spent, and that the company had been funded solely by the sale until then.
June 2018
Celsius’s later asset report dates the start of its service to June 2018. Customers deposited cryptocurrency for yield or borrowed against it.
August 2020
More than 1,000 investors participated through BnkToTheFuture.
12 October 2021
Celsius reported 486 employees and platform assets above $25 billion, and said it planned to double its staff.
June 2022
The company cited extreme market conditions.
13 July 2022
Filed with affiliates in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The company said it had $167 million in cash to support operations during the case.
How it ended
Celsius paused all withdrawals, swaps and transfers in June 2022, citing extreme market conditions, and filed for Chapter 11 in New York on 13 July 2022. It left bankruptcy in January 2024 under a plan that wound the platform down, returned crypto and cash to creditors and handed them a new bitcoin mining company.
What happened next
- Aftermath27 September 2022
Chris Ferraro, previously finance chief, became interim chief executive.
- Asset sale2 December 2022
Celsius had bought the Israeli custody company in November 2021.
- Regulatory action13 July 2023
Celsius agreed to a $4.7 billion judgment, suspended so that remaining assets could go to customers through the bankruptcy, and to a permanent ban on offering products used to deposit, exchange, invest or withdraw assets. The FTC also filed a complaint against three co-founders.
- Regulatory action13 July 2023
Both agencies filed complaints against the company and Alex Mashinsky the same day.
- Criminal charges13 July 2023
Federal prosecutors filed seven counts against Alex Mashinsky and another former executive, including securities, commodities and wire fraud. He pleaded not guilty at the time.
- Court ruling9 November 2023
Judge Martin Glenn confirmed the plan creditors had voted for. The order states that it makes no finding on whether the CEL token or the interest product were securities.
- Recovery31 January 2024
Stretto says the company emerged from Chapter 11; eligible creditors could also receive shares in the reorganized mining business, Ionic Digital.
- Recovery1 February 2024
The claims agent dates the start of crypto and US-dollar distributions here. This is an execution start, not a statement that every claim was paid.
- Recovery29 February 2024
The claims agent says the app closure did not stop ongoing creditor distributions.
- Recovery26 August 2024
The Block reported approximately $2.53 billion distributed to 251,000 creditors, citing the administrator. Valuations use 16 January 2024 prices. These are reported payments, distinct from the earlier plan allocation; the linked article returned 403.
- Criminal charges3 December 2024
Alex Mashinsky pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud and agreed to forfeit about $48 million.
- Court ruling8 May 2025
US District Judge John G. Koeltl imposed the sentence in Manhattan on the two counts to which Alex Mashinsky pleaded guilty.
- Regulatory action20 July 2026
The FTC announced $10 million against Alex Mashinsky, $4.1 million against Daniel Leon and $2.4 million against Nuke Goldstein. Its release described orders for Mashinsky and Leon and a proposed order for Goldstein, with restrictions on certain financial products.
Corrections
Oct 2026
Legal dates are now recorded to the day where official records establish them.
The guilty plea is dated 3 December 2024. The FTC announcement covering the three founders is dated 20 July 2026; its wording distinguishes entered orders from a proposed order.
Still alive
Open spot
Celsius Network is gone. Is your crypto lender still running?
Spotlight your project here.
Sources
26 sources behind this page.
- 1Celsius founders to pay FTC $16.5M · Banking Dive (via Yahoo Finance)
- 2Celsius confirms over $10B in digital assets · Celsius via PR Newswire · Mar 2021
- 3Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky sentenced to 12 years in multi-billion-dollar crypto fraud case · CNBC · May 2025
- 4Embattled crypto lender Celsius files for bankruptcy protection · CNBC · Jul 2022
- 5Former Celsius CEO arrested, company agrees to pay $4.7 billion settlement · CNBC · Jul 2023
- 6Alexander Mashinsky, founder of crypto lender Celsius, sentenced to 12 years in prison · CNN · May 2025
- 7Celsius Founder Alex Mashinsky Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for Fraud · CoinDesk · May 2025
- 8Celsius Network Series B Expands to $750M · CoinDesk · Nov 2021
- 9Celsius to Distribute $3B Crypto to Creditors as Firm Emerges From Bankruptcy · CoinDesk · Feb 2024
- 10How Celsius Turned Its Crypto ICO Into a Billion-Dollar Lending Business · CoinDesk · Sep 2019
Show 16 moreShow fewer
- 11Celsius Network raises more than $20M via equity crowdfunding · Cointelegraph
- 12Court confirms Celsius bankruptcy exit plan, $2B in crypto to go to creditors · Cointelegraph
- 13Alex Mashinsky's Celsius Network Secures $10 Million Equity Investment from Tether Ltd · Crowdfund Insider
- 14Inmate locator: Alexander Mashinsky · Federal Bureau of Prisons
- 15Founders of Celsius Network ordered to pay $16.5 million · Federal Trade Commission · Jul 2026
- 16FTC reaches settlement with Celsius Network · Federal Trade Commission · Jul 2023
- 17Celsius Network Announces an Investment Led by WestCap and CDPQ at a Valuation More Than US $3 Billion · PR Newswire (press release issued by Celsius Network) · Oct 2021
- 18Celsius Network Dissolution and Distribution · Stretto
- 19Celsius bankruptcy distributions exceed $2.5 billion to 251,000 creditors · The Block
- 20FTC Secures $16.5 Million Settlements with Celsius Network Co-Founders · The National Law Review (Greenberg Traurig)
- 21Celsius founder and former chief revenue officer charged · US Department of Justice · Jul 2023
- 22Celsius founder pleads guilty · US Department of Justice · Dec 2024
- 23Founder of Celsius sentenced to 12 years · US Department of Justice · May 2025
- 24Celsius Network · Wikipedia · user-editable
- 25@NukeGold profile · X, retrieved via twitterapi.io
- 26Celsius Network posts naming its founders, January 2021 to June 2022 · X, retrieved via twitterapi.io
Every figure above is clickable and opens the sources behind it. Copies were stored when each source was read, so a citation still resolves after the page it came from is gone.