New York State permanently banned former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky from the crypto industry under a settlement requiring up to $35 million in conditional payments tied to federal forfeiture and prison sentence compliance, affecting over 26,000 state investors.
Trump-era staff reductions have crippled the CFTC's ability to regulate crypto and prediction markets, with staffing down 21% by end of 2025 and enforcement actions down nearly 80%. Former enforcement lawyers allege the administration deliberately weakened the agency to favor the crypto industry, closing cases against firms like FTX and Celsius while fraud concerns mount.