The Winklevoss twins’ Gemini Trust and the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have come to an agreement that could see the trust pay $5 million to avoid a civil trial, according to a report by Bloomberg. The deal, disclosed in court filings on Monday, still needs to be approved by a judge.
Gemini Finally Settles
The CFTC sued the company for alleged ‘false and misleading statements’ about the prevention of manipulated Bitcoin pricing. According to the filing, the company secretly offered select market makers favorable fee terms to boost auction trading.
“Gemini […] did not disclose that from 2016 through the Relevant Period, Gemini Trust at times entered into bespoke fee arrangements not available to all customers with certain market participants, including market makers, that were not disclosed on Gemini Trust’s website, at more favorable terms than those listed on the website and designed to promote trading in the Gemini Trust Auction.”
A settlement would mean that Gemini neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing.
In 2017 and 2018, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss’ firm handed over subpoenaed executive laptops as part of a criminal investigation into potential Bitcoin futures manipulation by former executives. The case was closed without charges.
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Goodbye, Gensler; Hello, Behnam
Just like its counterpart, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the CFTC has faced scrutiny over its stance on the crypto industry. Although, the SEC has been much more aggressive in its regulation by enforcement action and comments made about crypto.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler is known for considering most things apart from Bitcoin a security, whereas Behnam is on the record for at least agreeing that Ethereum is a commodity.
Gensler is scheduled to depart the agency following his earlier resignation, coinciding with Donald Trump’s inauguration.
During the Bitcoin conference in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2024, Trump famously said he would fire “Gensler on day one” of his presidency if re-elected.
While Trump did consider a replacement at the CFTC, at this point, it’s expected that Behnam will remain at the helm of the CFTC.