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Winklevoss twins in Singapore in September 2023.
CNN
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Gemini Trust, the cryptocurrency exchange founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, will return at least $1.1 billion to customers of its now-shuttered lending program following a settlement with New York regulators.
The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) said in a statement Wednesday that Gemini will also pay a $37 million fine to regulators for “serious failures that jeopardize the safety and soundness of the company.”
NYDFS said in a statement that it has the right to “bring further legal action against Gemini if Gemini fails to meet its obligations.”
Gemini is run by the Winklevoss brothers, who spent years fighting a lawsuit accusing META's Mark Zuckerberg of stealing Facebook's idea, ultimately settling for $65 million. He is well known for receiving the.
In a blog post on Wednesday, the cryptocurrency exchange said that under the settlement, customers of its lending program, Gemini Earn, will receive 100% of their digital assets back in kind, as well as any appreciation in value.
Gemini Earn promoted itself as a low-risk investment that allows customers to earn interest rates as high as 8% while lending their crypto assets to another company, Genesis Global Capital (GGC).
“We plan to return more than $1.8 billion in value (at current prices),” Gemini said on its blog, which is 700 million more than when GGC suspended withdrawals in November 2022. It is said that the dollar has increased.
That was when the multitrillion-dollar cryptocurrency market collapsed with the collapse of FTX, a once-high-flying cryptocurrency exchange. Co-founder Sam Bankman Fried was found guilty in November on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy for his role in the company's demise.
On Tuesday, Bankman Fried's lawyers filed a memo in federal court in Manhattan recommending a sentence of five to six-and-a-half years. According to federal guidelines, he could be sentenced to up to 110 years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for March 28th.
Wednesday's settlement does not mean Gemini's legal troubles are over. Gemini, GCC and GCC's parent company, Digital Currency Group, also face a separate lawsuit filed in October by the New York attorney general's office, accusing Gemini, GCC and GCC's parent company, Digital Currency Group, of lying to investors and concealing more than $1 billion in losses. ing.
