On Wednesday evening, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced it had joined Gemini (GEMI) in requesting that the court grant relief from the judgment in the regulator’s case against the exchange, filed back in 2022. The CFTC said it carried out a thorough reexamination of the matter, looking back at the investigation’s history, the evidence it relied on, the decision to file charges, and how the case was litigated. CFTC Cites Lacking Credibility Based on that review, the CFTC concluded that the complaint should not have been filed and that it would not have been brought under the agency’s current enforcement approach. In its release, the regulator laid out several reasons for that determination. It said the complaint leaned heavily on a whistleblower account that it described as lacking credibility. It also argued that the investigation was not focused on the alleged fraudsters at the center of the underlying dispute, but instead pursued Gemini—whom it characterized as a fraud victim—for purported false statements made during the company’s registration application process. The CFTC further said there were serious questions about the strength of the evidence against Gemini. The agency asserted that personnel improperly influenced the CFTC’s regulatory authority in a way that effectively created settlement leverage. What Happens To Gemini’s Remaining Injunction Because of its findings, the CFTC said it determined that pursuing enforcement of the consent order’s prospective provisions would no longer serve the regulator’s mission or the public interest. The CFTC explained that the consent order’s non-prospective parts—such as the civil monetary penalty—have already been satisfied, and it argued that keeping remaining prospective elements in place, including injunctive relief, would not be equitable. Gemini previously settled the CFTC’s charges in January 2025, during the final weeks of President Joe Biden’s administration. As part of that settlement, Gemini paid a $5 million penalty and agreed to an injunction barring the company from making false or misleading statements to the CFTC. Featured image created with OpenArt; chart from TradingView.com
