Judge rejects CFTC, Gemini bid to undo $5M settlement
Judge ruled changes in CFTC enforcement priorities and allegations of misconduct by its enforcement division were insufficient to overturn Gemini’s January 2025 settlement.
A US federal judge has rejected a joint request by crypto exchange Gemini and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to overturn a $5 million settlement, despite the regulator’s conclusion that it would not have pursued the case under current enforcement standards.
On Thursday, US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled that changes in CFTC enforcement priorities and allegations of misconduct by its enforcement division did not justify overturning the January 2025 settlement.
On May 27, the CFTC and Gemini jointly asked the court to overturn the settlement after an internal agency review found alleged misconduct by the regulator’s enforcement division, including reliance on a questionable whistleblower, improper regulatory pressure and efforts to prevent the disclosure of evidence.
The ruling leaves intact a permanent injunction barring Gemini from making false or misleading statements to the CFTC. The settlement also prohibits Gemini from publicly denying its findings, although the regulator said in June that it would no longer enforce such restrictions.
Gemini has already paid the $5 million penalty, which the CFTC previously told Cointelegraph would not be refunded even if the settlement were overturned.
The case centered on how Gemini operated its Bitcoin auction. According to the January 2025 consent order, the exchange failed to disclose that some customers traded using borrowed funds, that self-trading had occurred despite safeguards and that certain traders received special fee arrangements.
Gemini also submitted trading volume data without disclosing that some of the activity involved these practices.