The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission wants to end a long-standing dispute with cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, with the agency insisting that its own staff’s claims that Gemini made misleading statements were not handled properly.
The CFTC filed a request alongside Gemini in federal court to overturn a settlement reached early last year, with the current agency essentially challenging the previous agency’s findings. After reviewing the case, the CFTC “concluded that the complaint should not have been filed – and would not have been filed under current enforcement standards,” it said in a statement Wednesday.
In January 2025, Gemini agreed to resolve an enforcement action with a $5 million fine and other demands, settling a matter that began in 2017. In meetings with the CFTC at the time, its staff determined that Gemini allegedly made false statements about the relative difficulty of manipulating Bitcoin futures contracts and the regulator initiated 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 dismisses the case, the remainder of Gemini’s requirements under the agreement will be set aside, including its injunction preventing 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 settlement, and the subsequent appointment of CFTC Chairman Mike Selig, who made digital assets one of his primary policy goals.
Trump has also sought to defend the industry, including specifically welcoming Gemini founders, the Winklevoss brothers, to White House events.
The president’s previous nominee to lead the CFTC, former Commissioner Brian Quintenz, said last year in posts on Trump withdrew his nomination just under three weeks later.
The president’s pro-crypto agenda was laid out Wednesday in a post 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!”
