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Former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky has been permanently barred from the cryptocurrency, securities and commodities industries under a settlement with New York Attorney General Letitia James that includes up to $35 million in conditional payments.The New York agreement, announced Friday, settles a 2023 civil lawsuit accusing Mashinsky of misleading hundreds of thousands of investors about the safety of Celsius before its collapse in 2022.Under the settlement, Mashinsky must pay New York $25 million if he fails to forfeit an additional $10 million in ill-gotten gains to the federal government beyond assets already forfeited, and another $10 million if he does not serve his full prison sentence.Mashinsky is serving a 12-year federal prison sentence for fraud and was separately ordered to forfeit more than $48 million. The federal sentence stems from his December 2024 guilty plea to securities and commodities fraud.“Alex Mashinsky promised New Yorkers that his company was a secure place to invest their hard-earned savings, only to leave them penniless when his risky investments collapsed,” James said in Friday’s announcement.Related: S&P Global brings risk assessments to growing crypto lending vault sectorCelsius promised high yields before collapseAccording to the 2023 lawsuit, Mashinsky promoted Celsius as a safer alternative to banks, offering yields as high as 17% while allegedly concealing risky investments and mounting losses.By early 2022, Celsius had attracted roughly $20 billion in digital assets, but struggled to generate enough revenue to sustain its promised returns, prompting increasingly risky investments, according to the CFTC.CFTC’s July 2023 fraud charges against Alex Mashinsky and Celsius Network. Source: CFTCCelsius froze customer withdrawals in June 2022 and filed for bankruptcy the following month, disclosing a shortfall of more than $1 billion between its assets and liabilities.As of August 2026, more than $3.4 billion had been distributed to Celsius creditors through the bankruptcy proceedings, according to the New York Attorney General’s Office.Related: Netflix drops trailer for series based on FTX’s SBF and Caroline EllisonPrevious federal settlements and legal challengesThe New York agreement follows separate settlements with federal regulators earlier this year. In June, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) permanently barred Mashinsky from trading and registering with the agency. An April settlement with the Federal Trade Commission had already barred him from working in crypto and finance and required a $10 million payment, along with a largely suspended $4.72 billion judgment.The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also reached an agreement in principle with Mashinsky in September to settle its separate civil lawsuit, which a federal judge dismissed without prejudice on Sept. 29 pending finalization of the settlement.Since May, Mashinsky has been seeking to vacate his federal conviction and sentence, representing himself in the proceedings. Federal prosecutors opposed his motion in August, calling his arguments “without merit.”A judge denied his request for discovery, and an Oct. 5 order left that decision unchanged. Mashinsky has until Dec. 11 to respond to the government’s opposition to his petition.Magazine: Crypto lending rises again… but have they solved the risks?

Cointelegraph is committed to providing independent, high-quality journalism across the crypto, blockchain, AI, and fintech industries.All news, reviews, and analyses are produced with full journalistic independence and integrity. For more details on our standards and processes, please read our Editorial Policy.

British banking giant HSBC and Ant Digital Technologies have tested a system that lets AI agents access digital services and make micropayments using tokenized bank deposits, with transactions settled in real time on a blockchain testnet.According to Friday’s announcement, the test combined HSBC’s Tokenised Deposit Service with Ant Digital’s Anvita Flow network, which enables AI agents to find and use services, and Jovay Testnet, a layer-2 blockchain testing environment.HSBC provided settlement capabilities and real-time risk checks, while Ant Digital’s network coordinated service access and payments. The demonstration showed an AI agent selecting a digital service and completing a payment. The companies described the transactions as micropayments, typically defined as less than $2.The companies said the test was limited to technical verification and did not represent a commercial launch or live customer offering.Related: Sui tunnels hit 40.6M TPS in live AI agent testBanks experiment with AI-agent paymentsHSBC is among several banks testing how AI agents could initiate financial transactions on customers’ behalf.In March, Spanish banking giant Santander completed an AI-agent-initiated payment using Mastercard’s Agent Pay infrastructure in a controlled test involving the bank’s live payment systems.Swiss digital asset bank Sygnum followed in May with a test of AI-agent-driven transactions on a blockchain mainnet, with customers required to approve and sign each transaction. Spanish banking group CaixaBank also completed an AI-agent-initiated card transaction using Visa Intelligent Commerce and existing merchant payment systems.However, not everyone believes established banks can adapt their existing infrastructure to AI-driven finance. In a May interview with Cointelegraph, Augustus Bank CEO Ferdinand Dabitz argued that traditional clearing banks rely on decades-old systems designed for human operations rather than automated, around-the-clock transactions.Augustus is developing a US bank built around stablecoins and AI-driven operations, betting that purpose-built infrastructure can replace parts of traditional banking systems.Related: Nasdaq Ventures, Deutsche Bank back Elliptic in $120M funding roundAI agents could drive blockchain adoptionInvestment research firm Citrini Research recently explored blockchain’s potential role in AI-driven commerce. In an Oct. 8 report titled Breaking The Wall, the firm argued that autonomous AI agents could increase demand for programmable financial infrastructure.The firm said traditional financial systems, designed primarily for human users, may need to adapt as AI agents increasingly handle transactions across applications. It argued that blockchain networks could provide the always-on infrastructure needed to move money and financial assets programmatically.“AI agents move programmatically, 24/7, across applications, and it’s only logical that money and financial assets eventually will, too,” Citrini wrote.Mafazine: France is world’s most dangerous place for Bitcoiners: 90 attacks in 7 months

Hardware wallet maker Ledger is investigating reports of cryptocurrency losses involving devices purchased from a Southeast Asian reseller, warning affected customers to consider moving their assets to new wallets while the investigation continues.In a statement posted on X, Ledger said it had asked reseller CryptoBilis to suspend sales and shipments of its devices as a precaution. Customers who purchased devices from the reseller within the past 90 days were advised not to set them up, while those who had already done so were advised to consider transferring their assets to a new Ledger signer with a newly generated recovery phrase.CryptoBilis is listed as an authorized Ledger reseller in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.Source: Ledger SupportLedger has not disclosed how many customers may be affected or the value of the reported losses. The company also has not identified the cause of the incidents or confirmed whether the devices were compromised.Separately, onchain researchers reported suspected cryptocurrency thefts involving addresses across several blockchains. Researcher tanuki42 identified eight wallet addresses allegedly linked to more than $72 million in losses, while fellow investigator Specter estimated losses exceeding $86 million across Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tron. Ledger has not confirmed either estimate, and the extent of any connection to the CryptoBilis investigation remains unclear.Source: SpecterCrypto security organization Security Alliance (SEAL) amplified tanuki42’s findings on X, urging anyone whose funds were transferred to the identified addresses to contact its incident-response team. The organization did not provide an independent estimate of losses or identify a cause for the suspected thefts.In a statement to Cointelegraph, Ledger said the incident appeared to be isolated to the reseller and affected market, adding that it had received no reports involving devices purchased directly from the company.“Ledger’s infrastructure, systems and services were not compromised,” the company said, adding that its investigation remains ongoing.Magazine: France is world’s most dangerous place for Bitcoiners: 90 attacks in 7 monthsCointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.