The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission wants to clear up the remnants of an old dispute with crypto exchange Gemini, with the agency insisting it mishandled claims from its own employees about Gemini making misleading statements.
The CFTC filed a request with Gemini in federal court early last year to reject the SECURE settlement, with the current agency essentially disputing the previous agency’s findings. After reviewing the case, the CFTC concluded that the complaint should not have been filed — and that it would not have been filed under current enforcement standards, it said in a statement Wednesday.
In January 2025, Gemini agreed to settle an enforcement action with a $5 million fine and other requirements, settling the case that began in 2017. In meetings with the CFTC at that time, its staff determined that Gemini had allegedly made false statements about the relative difficulty of manipulating Bitcoin futures contracts and the regulator filed an enforcement action in 2022.
If the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York grants the request to vacate the settlement and dismiss the case, Gemini’s remaining requirements under the settlement will be voided – including an injunction barring the company from making false or misleading statements to the Commission in the future.
The CFTC has dramatically reversed its previous relationship with the crypto industry since the arrival of President Donald Trump’s administration just days after the Gemini deal and the appointment of CFTC Chairman Mike Selig, who has adopted digital assets as one of his top policy goals.
Trump has also tried to champion the industry, including notably welcoming Gemini’s founders, the Winklevoss brothers, at White House events.
The president’s previous nominee to run the CFTC, former Commissioner Brian Quinten, said in a post last year on Trump withdrew his nomination just three weeks later.
The president’s pro-crypto agenda was on display Wednesday in a posting on his social media platform, Truth Social, where he said, “The new frontier of finance is being built in America, and ‘Trump’ will never let crypto down!”