U.S. regulators on Thursday said they are suing crypto exchange Gemini Trust, run by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, for providing misleading answers in 2017 about a bitcoin project. .
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s lawsuit filed in federal court in New York alleges Gemini failed to respond in advance about how easily it manipulated a contract project, the agency said in a statement. Bitcoin futures were proposed at the time.
The futures contract launched in late 2017 and ceased trading two years later, according to blog posts from Gemini and a partner company.
Making false or misleading statements to the commission undermines its job to protect market participants, prevent price manipulation and promote fair competition, acting director of enforcement Gretchen Lowe said in the statement.
“This enforcement action sends a strong message that the Commission will act to protect the integrity of market surveillance,” Lowe said.
The US agency is seeking financial penalties, surrender of any ill-gotten gains and an injunction against Gemini from doing such conduct in the future, it said.
Gemini defended its record when asked about the suit.
“We have an eight-year track record of asking permission, not forgiving and always doing the right thing,” it told AFP, adding: “We look forward to proving this clearly in court. .”
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Mark Zuckerberg’s Harvard twin, who sued him alleging he stole the idea for Facebook from them, started and run New York-based Gemini.
The brothers told Gemini employees on Thursday that about 10% of them have been laid off as staff are cut to endure a “crypto winter” that will likely drag on for a while. , according to a copy of an email posted by the company online.
“The crypto revolution is well underway and its impact will continue to be profound, but its trajectory is anything but gradual or predictable,” the brothers said.
The industry is in a “shrinking phase transitioning to a stagnation phase – what our industry calls ‘crypto winter’” combined with macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty , they added.
