Gemini, the cryptocurrency exchange founded by the Winklevoss twins, will pay a $5 million fine to settle with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
According to Bloomberg, the company agreed to a “proposed consent order” signed by the CFTC on Monday. As part of the settlement, Gemini will pay a $5 million fine for providing false information to regulators during its efforts to launch the first regulated Bitcoin (BTC) futures contract in the United States.
Gemini agreed to the settlement without admitting or denying the claims brought by the CFTC, which is scheduled to go to trial beginning January 21, 2025.
The CFTC filed a lawsuit against Gemini in June 2022, with the main complaint being that the exchange led by the Winklevoss twins misled regulators.
In particular, the agency noted “false or misleading statements of material fact” made by the exchange between July 2017 and December 2017. As highlighted by crypto.news at the time, here are the regulator’s claims regarding Gemini’s proposed self-certification for its BTC futures product: .
The CFTC’s complaint states that Gemini employees “knew or reasonably should have known that such statements were false or misleading.” However, the exchange refuted the regulator’s claims, saying it had never manipulated the price of Bitcoin or harmed investors.
However, in its initial appeal, the CFTC asked the court to recover ill-gotten gains, enforce civil penalties, and further injunctive relief for violations of the Commodity Exchange Act.
Gemini has also been involved in a legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over its Earn product.
The settlement with the CFTC is one of a number of agreements reached by companies in the cryptocurrency sector with U.S. regulators. Some of the top headlines included Binance and Terraform Labs.