US Regulators Take Gemini Crypto Exchange To Court, What's Up?

Gemini crypto exchange accused of fraud. (Cryptonews)

JAKARTA – Recently, one of the US crypto trading giants, Gemini, was reported to have been involved in a case and will be brought to justice by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

The Gemini Winklevoss brothers are accused of misleading regulators about the nature of Bitcoin futures contracts, Bloomberg reports. Gemini allegedly made false statements during a meeting with CFTC staff about its operations.

According to U.Today, the exchange allegedly lied about preventing market participants from trading with themselves. The regulator claims that Gemini offers several discounted participant fees which can be utilized to engage in self-trading.

The CFTC's Acting Director of Enforcement, Gretchen Lowe, claimed that the enforcement action was meant to send a "strong message" about the regulator's determination to protect the integrity of the market surveillance process.

Meanwhile, according to TheVerge report, the CFTC claims to have found several examples of this kind of manipulation. In one instance, Gemini allegedly made unsecured loans to market participants; in other cases, the company allegedly allowed the trade before the transfer was completed.

"Credit and advances can mislead the volume, liquidity or number of participants trading on the Gemini exchange and in the Gemini bitcoin auction," the CFTC said.

Gemini plans to sue CFTC

Responding to these allegations, Gemini itself plans to sue the accusations in court. “We have an eight-year track record of asking for permission, not forgiveness, and always doing the right thing,” a Gemini spokesperson told Coindesk.

Furthermore, Gemini seeks to prove the problem in court. Previously, one of the largest crypto exchanges in the US had also been sued by a Manhattan court, but prosecutors suddenly dropped the lawsuit in early 2022.

Meanwhile, the CFTC has filed lawsuits in court with a number of crypto fraud cases. The Commission also charged Gemini with an alleged Ponzi scheme that misappropriated BTC digital assets worth more than $44 million.