Celsius co-founders ordered to pay more than $6 million to settle FTC allegations

Two Celsius co-founders have been ordered to pay more than $6 million to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to settle allegations tied to statements made before the crypto lender’s collapse. Hanoch “Nuke” Goldstein, the company’s former chief technology officer, must pay $2.014 million under an order signed Monday by U.S. District Judge Denise Cote. Shlomi Daniel Leon, Celsius’s former chief strategy officer, must pay $4.1 million under a separate order entered on June 29. According to the FTC, Celsius had claimed it held enough reserves to meet withdrawal demand, maintained $750 million in insurance covering customer deposits, and did not make unsecured loans. The agency alleged those claims were false and said executives continued to tell customers their deposits were safe just days before the company filed for bankruptcy. At its peak, Celsius held $25 billion in assets. When it filed for bankruptcy in July 2022, it owed users $4.7 billion. The orders also bar Leon and Goldstein from marketing certain retail financial and crypto trading products.