Texas has moved closer to holding Bitcoin directly after naming a new advisory committee to guide the state’s Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.

The Texas Comptroller’s office said Thursday that Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock will serve on the five-member Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Advisory Committee, which will advise the state on custody, valuation, and management of Bitcoin holdings.

The committee was created under Senate Bill 21, which the 89th Texas Legislature passed and signed into law on June 22, 2025. The law gave the Comptroller’s office authority to administer the reserve and set up a framework for state-level Bitcoin exposure.

Hancock said in a statement that lawmakers gave his office a clear duty to manage the reserve with transparency, security, and strong financial controls. He added that the committee brings the expertise needed to carry out that work carefully and in the interest of Texas taxpayers.

Texas names Bitcoin reserve advisers

Alongside Hancock, the panel includes Laurie Dotter, chair of the Investment Advisory Board for the Employees’ Retirement System of Texas. According to the Comptroller’s office, Dotter brings more than 35 years of experience in investment oversight and governance.

Jamie McAvity, founder and CEO of Cormint Data Systems, also joined the committee. Cormint operates a 130-megawatt Bitcoin mining facility in Fort Stockton, which the company has described as one of the most efficient mining sites in the country.

The committee also includes Carla Reyes, a Southern Methodist University law professor who serves on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Innovation Advisory Committee. Reyes has also testified before Congress on blockchain policy.

Gary A. Vecchiarelli, CPA, president and CFO of CleanSpark, completes the panel. The Comptroller’s office cited his work building CleanSpark’s Bitcoin trading desk, yield strategies, and digital asset governance systems.

State seeks Crypto Custodian

At the same time, the Comptroller’s office issued a request for proposals for a qualified crypto custodian to support the reserve. The RFP covers secure custody, liquidity services, and asset management.

According to the office, the reserve currently has about $10 million of exposure through BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust. The RFP outlines a plan to transition from ETF-based exposure to direct Bitcoin holdings within 60 days of contract signing.

The custodian search places Texas among the most active U.S. states pursuing a formal Bitcoin reserve structure. The state’s approach centers on direct custody, financial controls, and support for additional digital assets over time, according to the RFP.

Federal Reserve plan is still developing

Meanwhile, the federal government has continued work on its own Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on March 6, 2025, directing the Treasury Department to create a reserve using Bitcoin already held through criminal and civil forfeitures.

The order barred the Treasury from selling those holdings. The U.S. government’s forfeiture-linked holdings were estimated at 328,372 BTC, making it the largest known state holder of Bitcoin.

In January 2026, Patrick Witt, executive director of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, said legal issues still needed to be resolved before the Federal Reserve could be completed. By May 2026, Witt said a major legal breakthrough had been reached and that an announcement was close.

On Capitol Hill, Senator Cynthia Lummis and Representative Nick Begich have backed the American Reserves Modernization Act. The bill would allow the Treasury to buy up to 200,000 BTC each year for five years.

Under the proposal, the Treasury would hold the Bitcoin for at least 20 years. If Congress passes the bill, the first open-market Treasury Bitcoin purchase is projected for the fourth quarter of 2026.

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) took positions on cryptocurrency perpetual futures contracts and how the industry may be more suited for “24/7 trading, clearing, and settlement.”

In a Friday notice, the CFTC said it had approved perpetual futures contracts tied to the spot price of Bitcoin for prediction markets platform Kalshi. The company announced at about the same time that it would launch the perpetual futures contracts on its platform in a move closer to a derivatives exchange.

“​​The Order was based on representations and submissions made by Kalshi in support of its request for Commission approval, including its explanation and analysis of the BTCPERP Contract’s terms and conditions, the nature of the underlying commodity market, and the BTCPERP Contract’s compliance with applicable provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act and the Commission’s regulations thereunder, including the Core Principles applicable to [Designated Contract Markets],” said the CFTC.

Source: CFTC

The perpetual futures contracts, or “perp” products, would allow Coinbase and Kalshi users to speculate on crypto prices without owning the underlying assets. The CFTC no-action position for Coinbase and approval for Kalshi represented the US agency being more open to crypto derivatives.

Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal called the CFTC decision a “massive first for the industry” in a Friday X post. The exchange launched stock perpetual futures for non-US traders in March.

Related: CFTC seeks to reverse settlement deal with Gemini

In a separate notice, the CFTC distinguished between the suitability of traditional markets and crypto markets for 24/7 trading. According to the agency, “derivatives referencing crypto assets may be well-suited for 24/7 trading due to their digital infrastructure and global reach” while others, like agricultural markets, may not be based on their “unique customer bases, regional nature” and other factors.

CME Group also announces 24/7 crypto futures trading, pending regulatory review. Source: CME Group

Trump touts CFTC’s authority, with no additional commissioner nominations

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump posted to social media, in a statement supporting Michael Selig and the CFTC in their fight for jurisdiction over prediction markets. The post came amid several state-level lawsuits attempting to restrict or ban the platforms, while Selig claims the agency has “exclusive jurisdiction” under the Commodity Exchange Act.

Selig remains the chair and sole commissioner at the federal commodities regulator in a panel intended to consist of a bipartisan group of five people. As of Friday, Trump had not announced any nominations to fill the seats.

Magazine: HYPE chases $100 target, ETH could dump below $1800: Market Moves

Pi Network’s PI token is consolidating near $0.14 after an April rally, with thin liquidity and IOU listings keeping volatility elevated as traders eye key support and resistance levels.

Pi Network’s PI is changing hands at about $0.144 with a 24 hour low of roughly $0.142 and a high near $0.146 on Bybit’s IOU market as of May 29, 2026, underscoring how the token has slipped into a narrow intraday band after its spring bounce.

That range translates into intraday volatility of roughly 3 percent peak to trough, with Bybit data showing the 24 hour high at approximately $0.1461 and the low around $0.1418, while 24 hour trading volumes stand in the low single digit millions of dollars across major IOU venues.

On OKX, a separate PI tracking instrument shows a live price quoted in fractions of a cent and a 24 hour gain of more than 40 percent with a market capitalization near $84,000, a reminder that liquidity and pricing methodology remain fragmented across exchanges listing Pi related derivatives.

Pi Network trades flat in tight 24 hour band

The current consolidation comes a month after PI briefly outperformed the wider market, with the token climbing more than 5 percent on April 29 and roughly 11 percent over the week to trade near $0.60 as investors positioned ahead of the project’s high profile appearance at Consensus 2026 in Miami, as reported by crypto.news.

Context from April rally and 2025 crash

That move made Pi one of the top performers among major altcoins on the day, even as bitcoin slipped about 1.6 percent and large caps like ether closed lower, suggesting event driven speculation rather than broad based capital rotation into the project.

However, Pi’s longer term chart remains brutal: the token crashed by more than 90 percent in 2025 from an all time high around $3.00, grinding down to the $0.20 area by December 18 as weak investor confidence, post mainnet selling and exchange migration flows weighed on price, according to an annual forecast from FXStreet.

Technical work published by crypto.news in May 2025 flagged oversold conditions as Pi approached support around $0.69 to $0.70, highlighting a potential bullish reversal if the token could reclaim the $0.74 point of control and build toward $0.85 and $0.99, levels that now sit far above spot, framing the scale of the subsequent decline.

A later crypto.news analysis noted that Pi’s rebound from a “maximum value” zone hinged on clearing dynamic resistance near $0.65 and then $0.80, with the value area low acting as a line in the sand for bulls, a structure that still informs current resistance ladders even as today’s IOU quotes hover in the mid teens of a dollar.

Fundamentally, Pi continues to trade in a kind of limbo: real world utility and compliance progress remain the core bullish catalysts cited by supporters, while skeptics point to fragmented IOU markets, opaque circulating supply, and the project’s long delay in delivering fully unlocked, freely transferable mainnet tokens as reasons to fade aggressive price targets.

With the token sitting more than 90 percent below peak and 24 hour action compressed into a tight band around $0.14, the next decisive move will likely depend on whether Pi’s developers can convert headline appearances and its large KYC verified user base into tangible on chain demand that shows up in both spot volumes and a sustained break above the nearest resistance cluster.

The U.S. Treasury has said it has seized nearly $1 billion in cryptocurrency linked to Iran as Washington expands its financial campaign against Tehran.

The U.S. Treasury has said it has seized nearly $1 billion in cryptocurrency linked to Iran as Washington expands its financial campaign against Tehran.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made the disclosure at the Reagan National Economic Forum, where he said U.S. authorities were tracking funds tied to Iran’s overseas networks. Bessent said the campaign targets financial channels that Tehran is trying to use outside the traditional banking system.

Treasury expands pressure on Iran’s crypto networks

According to Bessent, the latest crypto seizures are part of a broader Treasury effort to cut off revenue streams linked to Iran’s government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The campaign has included sanctions, frozen bank accounts, and actions against blockchain wallets linked to Iranian networks.

The Sui layer-1 blockchain faced another disruption this week, triggering a network stall that halted block production for more than three and a half hours before activity resumed. The incident, detailed by the Sui team and reflected in the network’s status dashboards, marks the second consecutive day of instability for the chain’s mainnet validators.

According to Sui status updates and the Suiscan block explorer, the last block prior to the disruption was produced at roughly 11:51 UTC on Friday, with network activity picking up again around 03:30 UTC. The team attributed the stall to the interaction between the recently released v1.72 software and the network’s address balances and gas charging logic. An interim fix had been deployed to restore functionality ahead of a more durable solution adopted by a majority of validators.

“Both today’s and yesterday’s halts are due to the interaction of the 1.72 release, which introduced address balances and gas charging logic. Yesterday’s implemented fix was an interim measure designed to restore functionality to the network.”

The interim patch was described as having a low probability of causing further disruption, with the long-term software fix now implemented by most validators. The incident follows a sequence of disruptions that began with Thursday’s outage, which was caused by a crash bug in the gas charging logic and led to a nearly six-hour downtime, according to the Sui team.

Beyond these events, Sui’s broader 2026 disruption history includes a high-profile outage in January 2026. The network went offline for more than six hours due to a consensus bug—validators submitted conflicting transactions to the protocol’s checkpoint mechanism, preventing the network from reaching the required consensus threshold. The post-mortem on that incident emphasized that the issue was contained by Sui’s checkpoint certification and quarantine mechanisms, which prevented a user-visible fork but halted progress in the process. The team stressed that user funds were never at risk and that no certified transactions were rolled back.

These recent incidents highlight the inherent fragility that can accompany high-throughput blockchain systems, where data availability, execution, and validator consensus layers intersect. The Sui team’s emphasis on checkpoint certification and quarantine underscores the defensive design choices intended to minimize user impact even when the network halts. Still, outages on a public network ripple outward, affecting centralized services that depend on live blockchain data and uptime. The episode also calls attention to the broader ecosystem, where outages at major service providers—such as cloud platforms—can compound the disruption for users and exchanges alike. For example, Coinbase faced a temporary service disruption in May due to an AWS outage, illustrating how a single failure point in the infrastructure stack can affect trading and liquidity even when the underlying blockchain remains theoretically resilient.

Key takeaways

• The latest Sui mainnet stall lasted over three and a half hours, with block production halted and later resumed after an interim patch and a longer-term fix.
• The disruption is attributed to the interaction between the 1.72 release—specifically address balances and gas charging logic—and the network’s existing execution and consensus flow.
• A durable software fix has been adopted by a majority of validators, following an interim repair rated as having a low likelihood of introducing new disruptions.
• The Friday incident follows Thursday’s six-hour outage caused by a crash bug in gas charging logic, and January’s six-plus hour stall caused by a consensus bug in the checkpoint mechanism.
• Analysts and developers note that outages on public blockchains can ripple into centralized services, highlighting the importance of robust recovery mechanisms and cross-layer resilience.

Context and implications for validators and users

From a technical perspective, Sui’s recurrent outages appear tied to how new software revisions interact with core network logic—specifically around how balances are tracked and how gas is charged. The 1.72 release introduced new balance-tracking and gas-charging semantics, and the subsequent halts suggest that the edge cases in those changes require careful handling to avoid cascading pauses in block production. The Sui team’s post-mortem emphasizes that the interim fix was designed to restore functionality quickly, while the long-term patch has now been broadly deployed to reduce the chance of another disruption.

For developers and validators, these events underscore the importance of rigorous rollout processes for critical protocol changes, especially on networks that aim for high throughput and low-latency finality. They also highlight the value of quarantine and checkpoint mechanisms as safeguards that can prevent user-visible forks even if network progress stalls. Investors and users should watch how quickly the ecosystem stabilizes after major releases and whether any secondary issues emerge as the new code paths become fully saturated in production workloads.

Looking ahead, the Sui network’s roadmap will likely focus on hardening the 1.72-induced changes, validating their behavior across a range of transaction loads, and ensuring that governance and operator tooling align to minimize operator risk during upgrades. Observers will also be watching to see whether further incidents emerge as validators complete the switch to the long-term fix and begin stress-testing the network under real-world conditions.

In the meantime, the episodes serve as a reminder of the delicate balance in building scalable, developer-friendly blockchains: the pursuit of higher throughput must be matched by robust validation, fault tolerance, and rapid, transparent post-mortems that translate into stronger resilience over time.

Readers should keep an eye on Sui’s official status updates and validator communications as the ecosystem digests the full implications of the latest patching cycle and gauges the network’s readiness to sustain higher loads without recurring interruptions.

US-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are sliding into their longest withdrawal stretch since launch, signaling a shift in how institutions seek Bitcoin exposure through the ETF structure. Data compiled by Farside Investors show another $223 million net outflow on Thursday, pushing the nine-session decline to a record for funds that began trading in 2024. The streak has surpassed the previous eight-session low set in February 2025, though total withdrawals remain below the earlier peak of roughly $3.2 billion during that sell-off period.

The evolving flow pattern fits a broader picture of diverging demand across crypto ETF products. While traditional spot BTC exposure via ETFs continues to see selling pressure, newer strategies and class-focused funds have begun attracting fresh capital, underscoring a nuanced shift in investor preferences as the market contends with macro headwinds and evolving custody and liquidity dynamics.

Key takeaways

• Spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US posted a nine-day outflow streak, with a single-day drain of about $223 million on Thursday, according to Farside Investors.
• BlackRock’s IBIT remains the largest US spot BTC ETF by assets, but it led the pullback with roughly $2.04 billion in cumulative outflows between May 15 and Thursday.
• New entrants like Hyperliquid’s HYPE ETFs continued to attract inflows, surpassing the broader slowdown with cumulative net inflows above $100 million since May 12, per SoSoValue.
• Ethereum spot ETFs extended a separate weakness, sustaining 13 consecutive days of outflows totaling around $694 million, as investors rotate toward newer products.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs: the nine-day drain and what it signals

Among the primary drivers of the recent weakness in US spot Bitcoin ETFs is a persistent outflow trend that has stretched to nine consecutive sessions. The latest reading shows a $223 million net outflow on Thursday, marking the ninth consecutive session of declines and highlighting a continued retreat from the ETF-linked channel for BTC exposure since the start of the month.

Analysts have pointed to a combination of factors behind the retreat: a tempered institutional appetite for BTC via ETFs, ongoing macro uncertainty, and a flight toward different risk-managed or yield-bearing crypto products. The cumulative impact is evident—the total withdrawals from the US spot BTC ETF complex have approached roughly $2.84 billion across the nine-session run. That figure sits below the earlier sell-off trough of about $3.2 billion but nonetheless underscores a meaningful reallocation away from the traditional ETF vehicle for Bitcoin exposure.

Despite the pressure, the aggregate market remains attentive to where demand continues to emerge. The continued outflows in BTC ETFs contrast with pockets of growth in other crypto strategies, painting a market landscape where capital is re-deploying rather than exiting the crypto space altogether. The divergence also mirrors a broader theme: while canonical BTC exposure through ETFs has faced persistent redemptions, investors appear willing to allocate to newer, more specialized or diversified product types that claim to offer distinct risk/return profiles or liquidity nuances.

IBIT: the dominant fund in retreat, but still the largest holder

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) remains the flagship US spot BTC ETF by assets under management, but it has borne a sizable portion of the current outflows. Between May 15 and Thursday, IBIT saw about $2.04 billion in cumulative withdrawals, with a single-day exit of $527.8 million on May 27 marking its second-largest daily outflow on record—just shy of the $528.3 million monthly peak posted on Jan. 30, 2025.

On the holdings side, IBIT continues to carry a dominant share of the US spot BTC ETF ecosystem. Wallet data show that, as of the close of trading on a recent Wednesday, IBIT held approximately 792,000 BTC, representing around 62% of all US-listed spot BTC ETF holdings. The concentration underscores BlackRock’s centrality in the sector, even as outflows weigh on its ETF’s near-term performance.

The dynamic raises questions about concentration risk within the ETF space. While IBIT remains the most significant single-holder, its outsized position means that large, concentrated redemptions can have outsized impact on overall ETF liquidity and price discovery during periods of broad selling pressure. Investors and practitioners will be watching whether new entrants or rebalanced portfolios can absorb the flow and stabilize market pricing in the near term.

HYPE and XRP: inflows diverge from the BTC ETF trend

Against the backdrop of cooling demand for Bitcoin exposure via traditional spot ETFs, a different segment of the market has been attracting interest. Hyperliquid’s HYPE ETFs, a newer entrant in the US-listed spot crypto ETF landscape, have continued to draw capital, with cumulative net inflows surpassing $100 million since their May 12 inception. SoSoValue tracks the daily inflows and notes a steady accumulation of fresh money, signaling investor appetite for products that promise rapid liquidity, flexible exposure, or novel token constructs.

Beyond BTC, other altcoin-focused funds have also reported inflows. In particular, XRP spot ETFs logged steady gains over the same period, adding roughly $120 million in net new money between May 4 and Thursday. The shift toward XRP and similar products highlights a growing investor interest in crypto assets beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum when packaged into regulated ETF formats.

The broader implication is twofold: first, investors are diversifying away from a sole reliance on BTC ETFs for crypto exposure; second, issuers are expanding their product tapes to capture demand for alternative tokens and novel strategies. This evolving ecosystem could shape liquidity patterns in the ETF space for the months to come, especially as market participants weigh regulatory clarity, custody, and tax considerations across a wider array of tokens.

Ether ETFs under pressure as flows turn negative

US-listed spot Ether ETFs have not shared the same resilience a few months ago. They have experienced persistent selling pressure, logging 13 consecutive days of outflows between May 11 and Thursday. The cumulative losses on the Ether ETF side total roughly $694 million over the period examined.

The contrast between BTC ETF flows and Ether ETF flows contributes to a broader re-pricing of crypto exposure in regulated vehicles. While BTC-specific products have faced sustained withdrawals, some investors appear to be experimenting with altcoin-linked strategies or new wrappers that may offer different liquidity and risk profiles. This rotation matters for traders and index designers alike, as it could influence the composition and liquidity of crypto ETF baskets in the near term.

What this means for investors and the road ahead

The current flow environment suggests a market in transition rather than a straight decline in interest for crypto assets via regulated products. The strongest signal is not a blanket loss of faith in BTC or Ethereum, but rather a reallocation toward products that promise differentiated exposures, enhanced liquidity, or targeted token bets like XRP and new thematic ETFs such as HYPE.

For investors, the key takeaway is the importance of understanding product design, custody frameworks, and liquidity sources behind each ETF. The outsized role of IBIT in asset concentration means that its performance will have outsized influence on the overall US spot BTC ETF sector in the near term. At the same time, inflows into HYPE and XRP products indicate there is capital appetite for alternative crypto exposure that can coexist with, but diverge from, BTC-centric narratives.

Regulatory clarity and institutional risk management considerations remain critical factors shaping these flows. As authorities refine guidance around custody, valuation, and surveillance, ETF issuers may adjust product features to align with evolving risk tolerances. In the meantime, market participants will likely keep close track of daily inflows and outflows across each ETF line to gauge whether the current rotation constitutes a longer-term trend or a temporary reallocation as investors reassess risk in a volatile macro environment.

The coming weeks should reveal whether demand for BTC exposure via ETFs stabilizes or whether inflows for newer products like HYPE and XRP-based funds gain momentum at the expense of legacy BTC ETFs. Investors should monitor ongoing fund flow data, liquidity metrics, and the relative performance of these vehicles against broader crypto market moves and macro indicators to determine where capital might settle next.

As broader market dynamics unfold, watchers will also want to see if ETH-related exposure regains traction or remains a laggard relative to alternative token-focused ETFs. The picture that emerges will influence asset allocation conversations, risk management frameworks, and the pace at which regulated crypto funds can evolve to reflect market realities.

Next steps for participants include watching daily inflow metrics for HYPE and XRP funds, tracking changes in IBIT’s share of total spot BTC ETF assets, and assessing whether ETH ETF outflows abate in the absence of a larger shift toward Bitcoin or XRP products. With regulatory and liquidity factors still in flux, the path for US-listed crypto ETFs remains nuanced—offering both opportunities and caveats for investors seeking regulated, exchange-traded crypto exposure.

Alex Mashinsky, the former Celsius Network chief executive, has filed a motion in the Southern District of New York seeking to vacate his 144-month sentence for commodities and securities fraud. The pro se filing—submitted after Mashinsky announced on May 5 that he would proceed without counsel—asks the court to overturn the sentence imposed by Judge John Koeltl in May 2025. The move comes as part of ongoing post-conviction proceedings tied to Celsius’s 2022 bankruptcy and the broader collapse of the crypto lending sector amid the FTX crisis.

In the petition, Mashinsky contends that he received ineffective representation and that the record contains “fruit of the poisonous tree” material—evidence tainted by authorities’ alleged misconduct. He states that his counsels stopped communicating with him, prompting the pro se reply he filed directly with the court. The motion to vacate underscores the defendant’s effort to challenge both the quality of legal representation and the legitimacy of the underlying proceedings.

According to court documents summarized by Cointelegraph, Mashinsky also advances claims tied to the broader Crypto Valley upheaval, arguing that former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried sought to destroy Celsius and that this dynamic contributed to market manipulation surrounding Celsius’s CEL token on the FTX exchange. He submitted text messages with Celsius’s former chief revenue officer, Roni Cohen-Pavon, alleging a hostile takeover attempt at the platform and urging the court to reject any FTX-related trust arrangements. The filing notes Celsius filed for bankruptcy in 2022 as bears and insolvencies ravaged the crypto lending sector, a context that continued through the FTX collapse and related regulatory actions.

The Celsius case has been subject to parallel regulatory and criminal scrutiny. Mashinsky and Cohen-Pavon were indicted in July 2023 on charges including fraud and market manipulation; both subsequently pleaded guilty. Cohen-Pavon was sentenced to time served in September 2023 after prosecutors cited substantial assistance, including willingness to testify against Mashinsky. The court’s judgments against Celsius executives were issued against a backdrop in which several crypto firms faced bankruptcy and heightened regulatory enforcement as U.S. authorities escalated their actions against misrepresentation, manipulation, and other illicit market activities within crypto markets.

Among the ongoing financial penalties, Mashinsky was ordered to forfeit $48 million as part of a 2025 criminal settlement. He also agreed to a $10 million payment as part of a separate regulatory settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission tied to a largely suspended $4.72 billion monetary judgment. Cohen-Pavon, who was sentenced to time served, agreed to pay more than $1 million and a $40,000 fine in connection with his guilty plea. The outcomes illustrate the interplay between criminal penalties and civil or administrative remedies in high-profile crypto compliance cases.

Key takeaways

• Alex Mashinsky has filed a pro se motion in the SDNY to vacate his 144-month sentence for commodities and securities fraud, arguing ineffective counsel and tainted evidence.
• The filing cites alleged interference by authorities and invokes the “fruit of the poisonous tree” doctrine, asserting that the misconduct affected the case’s integrity.
• Mashedinsky’s submission reiterates claims linking FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried to efforts against Celsius and to market manipulation surrounding Celsius’s CEL token on the FTX exchange.
• Former Celsius executive Roni Cohen-Pavon is central to the related legal narrative, with text-message evidence described as indicating a hostile takeover attempt and the broader disputes that surrounded Celsius’s business prospects.
• Criminal and regulatory penalties continue to shape the Celsius matter: Mashinsky faces forfeiture and FTC-related judgments, while Cohen-Pavon faced a time-served sentence and nominal civil penalties.

Procedural posture and grounds for vacatur

The core of Mashinsky’s motion rests on two arguments: ineffective assistance of counsel and the “fruit of the poisonous tree” doctrine, which contends that tainted evidence should not be used to sustain a conviction. The defendant elected to proceed without counsel after indicating his intention to litigate pro se, a move that US courts scrutinize carefully given the complexity of securities and commodities regulation, as well as the procedural intricacies of criminal sentencing.

While the court has not indicated a ruling on the vacatur motion, the filing itself underscores the ongoing legal contest surrounding Mashinsky’s conviction and sentence. The 12-year term, set in May 2025 by Judge Koeltl, remains a focal point of the case as Mashinsky seeks to challenge both the sentence and the underlying conduct that led to the conviction.

FTX disruption, internal Celsius dynamics, and regulatory context

The motion’s referenced material ties Mashinsky’s defense strategy to a broader narrative: the fall of Celsius amid the 2022 crypto downturn and the later collapse of FTX. The docket cites communications suggesting that Sam Bankman-Fried’s actions or intentions may have influenced Celsius’s market environment, including CEL token trading on the FTX platform. While these assertions are contested and central to Mashinsky’s position, they must be weighed against the court’s assessment of the facts and applicable law in a sentencing context.

Regulatory and enforcement considerations loom large in the Celsius saga. The indictments of Mashinsky and Cohen-Pavon in 2023, their guilty pleas, and the subsequent penalties illuminate how US authorities are pursuing cases of misrepresentation, manipulation, and other alleged improprieties in crypto-lending and related platforms. The outcomes contribute to a growing body of precedent on the liability of corporate leaders in crypto firms, the credibility of disclosures, and the steps agencies take to deter and remedy market abuses in crypto markets.

From a policy perspective, the matter intersects with broader enforcement themes—ranging from the DOJ’s crypto-related prosecutions to CFTC and SEC oversight of commodities and securities aspects of crypto tokens and offerings. The Celsius proceedings also sit against a global regulatory backdrop where frameworks such as MiCA in the European Union influence cross-border considerations, licensing regimes, and the alignment of crypto lending activities with consumer protection standards and anti-money-laundering (AML) requirements. The case thus offers material context for institutions assessing regulatory risk, governance standards, and the sufficiency of internal controls in asset-backed and algorithmic finance ventures.

Regulatory outcomes and corporate accountability

The financial penalties tied to the Celsius executives—Mashinsky’s $48 million forfeiture and the roughly $10 million related to FTC settlement terms in connection with a largely suspended $4.72 billion judgment—illustrate the multilayered enforcement approach in this space. Cohen-Pavon’s time-served sentence, along with more than $1 million in payments and a $40,000 fine, demonstrates that prosecutors and regulators have continued to pursue both criminal accountability and civil remedies for senior executives involved in crypto market manipulation or misrepresentation schemes.

These developments bear on how exchanges, lenders, and other crypto firms manage compliance risk, disclosures, and internal governance. Institutions operating in or alongside crypto markets should monitor ongoing judicial developments, as vacatur motions and related post-conviction relief efforts can shape the interpretation of corporate responsibility, the treatment of evidence, and the standards applied to future enforcement actions. The evolving landscape also informs licensing considerations, supervisory expectations, and collaboration between federal agencies in cross-border contexts, where enforceability and recognition of judgments may vary.

Closing perspective

The Mashinsky case remains an active legal matter with a pending vacatur petition that could influence sentencing outcomes and the enforcement posture for senior executives in the crypto sector. As regulators continue to sharpen their toolkit for addressing misrepresentations, manipulation, and governance failures, observers should watch for how the court weighs ineffective counsel claims, the admissibility and impact of contested evidence, and any subsequent motions that could reshape the balance between punishment and relief in high-profile crypto cases.