Following their involvement with social media giant Facebook [now Meta], the Winklevoss twins decided to explore the crypto-verse with Gemini. This crypto exchange emerged as a prominent one and was one of the earliest platforms. With the surge in demand for crypto, Gemini has been under the spotlight. This, however, was contested by regulators. While regulatory purview isn’t new to crypto businesses, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission [CFTC] decided to sue the exchange.
According to recent reports, the CFTC reportedly sued Gemini Trust Co. for its Bitcoin Futures. The Winklevoss Twins-led crypto exchange was trying to roll out the US’s very first Bitcoin futures contract back in 2017. Years later, the regulator alleged that the exchange presented misleading information during its bid to launch the product.
CFTC pointed out that Gemini gave out “false or misleading statements and omission.” This reportedly occurred during their in-person meetings. The CFTC in its lawsuit read,
“The false or misleading statements and information conveyed or omitted to Commission staff by Gemini directly and through others were material to evaluation of the Bitcoin Futures Contract, including compliance with core principles of the Commodity Exchange Act. Such statements and information were relevant to, among other things, assessing the size of, liquidity on, and number of market participants using the Gemini Exchange and the Gemini Bitcoin Auction.”
Furthermore, the exchange did not sit back. The Winklevoss twins’ platform noted that it has time and again inclined towards the right thing. Now, in light of these allegations, the exchange said, “We look forward to definitively proving this in court.”
Gemini bids adieu to 10% of its staff
Amidst this lawsuit and the ongoing bear market, twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss seem to have decided to make job cuts. The founders reportedly wrote a note to their employees emphasizing the impact of “crypto winter.”
Gemini’s twins believe that this turbulent market condition would likely persist for a while.
Crypto winter seems to have got the best of every exchange. An array of them like Coinbase, and Robinhood have been either slowing down their hiring process or letting go of their employees.