Winklevoss-led Gemini Trust Co. agrees to pay $5 million to settle CFTC charges in proposed order
Quick Take
- In a “proposed consent order” on Monday signed by the CFTC and Gemini, the company agreed to settle while not admitting or denying the allegations.
- The agency said Gemini made untrue statements between July 2017 and December 2017 to the CFTC when it was being evaluated for a bitcoin futures contract.
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss-led Gemini Trust Company has agreed to pay $5 million to end a case brought by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission over misleading statements it made to the regulator.
In a "proposed consent order" on Monday signed by the CFTC and Gemini, the company agreed to settle while not admitting or denying the allegations in the agency's complaint. Bloomberg earlier reported the news.
A pre-trial conference was set for Jan. 13 and the trial was expected to start on Jan. 21, according to a previous order by Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The CFTC sued Gemini in June 2022 for making a "false or misleading statement of material facts." The agency said Gemini made those statements between July 2017 to about December 2017 to the CFTC when it was being evaluated for a bitcoin futures contract. Gemini allegedly made those statements about whether the firm's proposed bitcoin futures contract would be "readily susceptible to manipulation," the agency said in 2022.
"As alleged in the complaint, Gemini personnel knew or reasonably should have known that such statements were false or misleading," the CFTC said previously.
Gemini pushed back and said the CFTC "unjustly accused" them.
"This contract worked as intended—the reference price was reliable, no investors were harmed, no price manipulation occurred, and the CFTC has not alleged any concerns with the contract itself," Gemini said in its response to the CFTC's complaint in August 2022.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
