Celsius ‘pleased’ with resolutions amid $4.7B FTC fine

Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network has posted that the company is pleased with the resolutions that it was able to reach with various United States government agencies. The announcement came after the news that the FTC has imposed a $4.7 billion fine on the company.

On July 13, the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reached a settlement with Celsius. The FTC’s decision comes with a $4.7 billion fine — which is suspended to allow the company to return its remaining funds to users as it goes through bankruptcy proceedings.

In its statement, Celsius said that these resolutions will not impact the firm’s chapter 11 plan or its ability to return value to its customers.

We are pleased to have reached resolutions with the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the Federal Trade Commission as we continue to pursue a successful Chapter 11 Plan.

— Celsius (@CelsiusNetwork) July 13, 2023

Moreover, Celsius noted that they are committed to cooperating with regulators and government agencies. 

While Celsius was pleased with the results, members of the crypto community were not. Many were  incensed by Celsius’ remarks and blasted the company on Twitter.

In a tweet, Joey Hendrickson described Celsius Network’s announcement as “weird.” According to the community member, if the company “had any level of human conscience,” they would not be pleased. Hendrickson said that he would rather hear an apology for how the company “mistreated” customers.

Twitter user Amit Palaliya agreed with Hendrickson’s sentiments. The community member expressed dissatisfaction over the use of corporate and legal jargon wording as the company addressed its users. Palaliya urged the firm to just distribute the funds that are left and tell the users to move on instead of continuing to throw money into “legal pits.”

Related: Celsius files lawsuit to recover $150M from staking platform StakeHound

Meanwhile, another community member blasted the company as they tweeted that they were also “pleased” that the former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky was charged with multiple crimes. They tweeted:

And We the Users, who spent their hard earned money on your extreme risk taking lies, are pleased to see Alex Mashinsky charged with multiple crimes https://t.co/QCnjAGPFzK

— Digital Asset Updates (@DigitalAssetUpd) July 13, 2023

On July 13, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against the crypto lender and Mashinsky. The SEC argued that the former Celsius CEO falsely promised a safe investment to users with the company’s “Earn Interest Program.” 

Apart from this, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and Federal Bureau of Investigation also announced fraud charges against Mashinsky. Mashinsky was reportedly arrested on the same day as part of the indictment process.

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