Gemini accuses CFTC of unfair legal campaign in formal complaint

Crypto exchange Gemini has filed a formal complaint against the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Division of Enforcement (DOE), accusing it of pursuing a prolonged and unjustified legal campaign.

On June 17, Gemini co-founder Tyler Winklevoss revealed that the firm submitted the complaints to the CFTC’s Office of the Inspector General on June 13.

According to him, the complaints showed that:

“[CFTC] lawyers misused their offices and millions of taxpayer dollars to engage in trophy-hunting lawfare against Gemini to advance their careers. They investigated and sued Gemini — an innocent party – to serve their personal interests even though they knew Gemini was in fact the victim of a multi-million dollar rebate fraud.”

This complaint comes months after Gemini agreed to a $5 million settlement with the CFTC. The agency had accused the exchange of misleading regulators during the 2017 self-certification of a Bitcoin futures product.

Gemini’s complaints against CFTC

Gemini claimed that the DOE has spent the past seven years targeting the exchange without producing any concrete evidence of wrongdoing.

The exchange said the case was built on testimony from a former employee whose credibility had already been challenged.

According to Gemini, the enforcement team ignored facts and due process. Instead, they allegedly focused on scoring a public victory at the expense of fairness and taxpayer resources. The exchange described this as a misuse of government authority and a betrayal of the CFTC’s mission.

Gemini further argued that CFTC attorneys were motivated by personal ambition. It claimed they used the case to advance their careers, not to protect market participants. In doing so, the agency reportedly spent millions of public dollars prosecuting a firm that saw itself as a victim of external fraud.

Notably, Jack Baughman, a leading trial attorney, also shared Gemini’s view about the Commission’s lawyers, saying:

“It is not just the CFTC, it is all of the alphabet federal and state regulators, as well as state AG’s. They are frequently arrogant, abusive, and think the law does not apply to them. These agencies hire people with little understanding of the industries they ‘regulate’ and pass out awards and decorations for ‘wins.'”

Why Gemini settled with the CFTC

Gemini emphasized that its settlement with the CFTC was not an admission of guilt, but a necessary move to avoid a drawn-out legal fight and the risk of further penalties.

Considering this, Gemini’s complaint criticized the CFTC’s broader culture, stating that internal priorities had shifted away from public interest. The exchange suggested that enforcement staff were now more focused on internal politics than fair regulation.

As a result, the crypto trading platform called for sweeping reforms at the financial agency. It argued that unchecked enforcement practices had inflicted real economic harm and demanded that the CFTC’s internal culture and structure be reevaluated.

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