In the case involving Gemini and the New York Attorney General’s office over the former’s earn program, both parties have reached a $50 million settlement.
Gemini’s Earn program investors will receive over $50 million in compensation from the New York Attorney General’s office.
New York Attorney General Letitia James announced in a June 14 notice that the $50 million resulted from a settlement in a litigation between her office and Gemini, which was initially filed in October 2023.
The lawsuit accused Gemini of neglecting to disclose the risks associated with its Earn program with Genesis Global Capital, which allegedly defrauded 230,000 investors, including New York residents.
James stated that Gemini’s fraudulent Earn program defrauded hundreds of thousands of individuals, including at least 29,000 New Yorkers, and violated their trust.
“Gemini advertised its Earn program as a means for investors to increase their money, but in reality, it deceived them and prevented them from accessing their accounts.”
Genesis was required to pay $2 billion to defrauded investors over Earn; James’ office disclosed a comparable settlement with Genesis in May. As per the New York Attorney General, the settlements were exclusively applicable to Genesis and Gemini, and the litigation would persist against Digital Currency Group, its CEO Barry Silbert, and former Genesis CEO Soichiro Moro.
James stated on X that “everyone that Gemini deceived will get their money back,” and the settlement prohibited Gemini from operating any cryptocurrency lending program in New York state. Gemini Trust stated that the impacted Earn users could anticipate receiving “100% of the assets owed to them” within the next seven days.
In 2023, James’ office has been at the forefront of the fight against other crypto firms purportedly operating illegally in New York. They have filed lawsuits against KuCoin and former CEO Alex Mashinsky of Celsius. Mashinsky is forthcoming for trial in January 2025 in the Southern District of New York, where he is currently facing criminal charges.
