Alexander Mashinsky, the former CEO of Celsius Network, was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Thursday after pleading guilty to two counts of fraud, a dramatic fall for the leader of a company once hailed as the “bank” of the crypto industry.

Standing before U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl in Manhattan’s Southern District, Mashinsky faced the consequences of what prosecutors described as a sweeping scheme to defraud investors.

In December he pleaded guilty to commodities fraud and a scheme to manipulate the Celsius token.

His sentencing took place in courtroom 14A at 500 Pearl Street — a venue that has seen several crypto executives-turned-felons.

Mashinsky’s legal troubles began in 2023 when he was arrested on charges of securities, commodities, and wire fraud, just as Celsius reached a $4.7 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission — one of the largest in the FTC’s history.

The settlement, which remains contingent on Celsius returning what remains of customer assets in bankruptcy proceedings, underscored the magnitude of the fraud.

Prosecutors accused Mashinsky of misleading investors about the safety and profitability of Celsius’s yield-generating platform while secretly selling off tens of millions of dollars in personal holdings.

Though he initially denied wrongdoing, his guilty plea and Thursday’s sentencing mark the final chapter in a years-long case that also drew charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which accused Celsius and Mashinsky of orchestrating a multi-billion dollar fraud scheme.

Mashinsky’s downfall mirrors the fate of other once-dominant crypto executives like FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, Binance’s Changpeng Zhao and Do Kwon of Terraform Labs.

Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison in March 2024 for the massive fraud and conspiracy that doomed his cryptocurrency exchange and a related hedge fund, Alameda Research.

Once celebrated as a crypto wunderkind, Bankman-Fried was exposed for misappropriating billions of dollars in customer funds to support his own trading firm, Alameda Research, and for living an extravagant lifestyle in Hong Kong and later the Bahamas.

Caroline Ellison, who led Alameda Research and was romantically involved with Bankman-Fried, received a significantly lighter sentence of two years. Her cooperation with prosecutors proved crucial in unraveling the complex web of fraudulent activities at FTX, allowing authorities to build a strong case against Bankman-Fried and other executives.

Bankman-Fried is in the process of appealing his conviction and sentence.

Ryan Salame, a former top lieutenant of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, was sentenced to 90 months, followed by three years of supervised release.

FTX engineering chief Nishad Singh got no jail time and three years of supervised release for his role in the crypto fraud; and Gary Wang, the co-founder and chief technology officer of FTX, also avoided prison time.

In May 2024, the bankruptcy estate of FTX announced that almost all customers would get their money back — and more.

A judge on Wednesday dismissed most of the claims against celebrities and athletes who were involved in promoting FTX in commercials and on other platforms.

Stars like Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen, Kevin O’Leary and Stephen Curry were among those facing a suit brought by a group of FTX investors.

In November 2023, Zhao, commonly known as “CZ,” struck a deal with the U.S. government to resolve a multiyear investigation into Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

Zhao stepped down as CEO in 2023 but retained a significant stake in Binance.

In April 2024, Binance’s billionaire founder was sentenced to four months in prison after pleading guilty to charges of enabling money laundering at his crypto exchange. He served his sentence at a low-security federal prison in Lompoc, California.

Under new leadership, Binance has undergone a strategic pivot, aligning closely with the Trump administration’s pro-crypto stance. CEO Richard Teng described President Donald Trump’s second term as a “fantastic reset” for the cryptocurrency industry, noting a dramatically improved regulatory environment for Binance in the U.S.

It was May 2022, and Kwon was riding high. His company, Terraform Labs, was behind one of the most popular U.S.-pegged stablecoins on the planet, the venture funding was rolling in, his coins (dubbed terra and luna) were collectively worth tens of billions of dollars, and like Bankman-Fried, Kwon had landed a spot on the prestigious Forbes 30 under 30 list.

And then it all came crashing down.

Whereas most stablecoins are backed up by a mix of cash and other assets to match the value of tokens in circulation, Kwon’s invention was instead backed by a complex set of code. When the algorithm failed in May 2022, it cost investors $40 billion in market value overnight, led to devastating losses to multiple investors, and contributed to the collapse of hedge fund Three Arrows Capital in June 2022, followed by crypto lenders Voyager Digital, then BlockFi, then Genesis — and, in a roundabout way, FTX too.

The stablecoin’s implosion also rocked confidence in the sector and accelerated the slide in cryptocurrencies already underway as part of a broader pullback from risk.

Last June, a judge signed off on Do Kwon and his bankrupt Terraform Labs settling with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for $4.5 billion.

Kwon was extradited to the U.S. from Montenegro to face fraud charges in January 2025.

When 3AC’s lenders asked for some of their cash back in a flood of margin calls, the money wasn’t there. Many of the firm’s counterparties were, in turn, unable to meet demands from their investors, including retail holders who had been promised annual returns of 20%.

The three companies all went bankrupt and are currently at various stages of settling their debts, with Celsius having just emerged from bankruptcy in January.

3AC co-founder Kyle Davies said he’s not sorry for the collapse of his fund, and has so far managed to avoid jail time by bouncing around the world, unlike his co-founder, Su Zhu, who served time in a Singaporean prison.

Affirm, the provider of buy now, pay later loans, gave a revenue forecast for the current quarter that trailed analysts’ estimates even as profit for the prior quarter was better than expected. The stock fell 10% in extended trading on Thursday.

Here’s how the company did, compared to analysts’ consensus estimates from LSEG:

• Earnings per share: 1 cent vs. an expected loss of 3 cents
• Revenue: $783 million vs. $783 million expected

Affirm reported gross merchandise volume, or GMV, of $8.6 billion, topping the average estimate of $8.2 billion, according to StreetAccount. GMV, a key metric that helps gauge the total value of transactions, increased 36% from a year earlier.

Revenue in the quarter rose 36% from $576 million a year ago. The company’s key margin metric — revenue less transaction costs, or RLTC —came in at 4.1%, slightly above its long-term target range of 3% to 4%.

Adjusted operating margin was 22%, compared to StreetAccount’s estimate of 21.6%. Affirm reported net income of $2.8 million, or a penny a share, compared to a loss a year earlier of $133.9 million, or 43 cents a share.

For the current quarter, Affirm is guiding for revenue between $815 million and $845 million — with a midpoint of $830 million, below the average estimate of $841 million, according to LSEG.

Affirm’s business is closely tied to consumer spending, as its online loan offering has become popular with sellers of electronics, apparel and travel. The U.S. economy contracted in the first three months of 2025 on an import surge at the start of President Donald Trump‘s second term in office, as companies and consumers sought to get ahead of the Trump tariffs implemented in early April.

As CNBC reported late last month, citing first-quarter results from credit card lenders, lower-income earners are reining in their transactions to focus on essentials, while the wealthy continue to spend on high-priced meals and and luxury travel.

Affirm is forecasting fourth-quarter GMV between $9.4 billion and $9.7 billion, with a midpoint of $9.55 billion, above StreetAccount’s estimate of $9.2 billion. Adjusted operating margin is expected between 23% and 25%, compared to the 23.8% StreetAccount estimate.

Affirm reiterated its commitment to achieving profitability on a GAAP basis by the end of its fiscal fourth quarter in 2025. Affirm’s active consumer base increased to 22 million, including 2 million new to Affirm consumers.

The Affirm Card, which is the company’s big bet for driving greater usage overall, saw GMV rise 115% from a year earlier, and the number of active cardholders more than doubled.

The company’s partnerships with Apple, Amazon and Shopify continue to drive momentum. In June, Affirm and Apple announced plans for U.S. Apple Pay users on iPhones and iPads to be able to apply for loans directly through Affirm.

Earlier this week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said it will stop enforcing a Biden-era rule that complicated compliance for BNPL providers, in what was largely viewed as a win for lenders like Affirm. 

The quarter saw a notable rise in 0% interest loans, a strategy in which merchants — and sometimes manufacturers — subsidize borrowing costs to drive sales. That marked a 44% increase from a year earlier. Meanwhile, credit quality held steady, with losses below 1% in the company’s core offering that allows users to repay loans in four installments.

Affirm shares are down 11% for the year, excluding the after-hours move, while the Nasdaq has fallen abut 7%.

WATCH: Affirm CEO on consumer behavior