The New York Attorney General’s office announced that it has recovered more than $50 million from crypto platform Gemini. This amount will be returned to investors who were involved in the platform’s Earn program.
Misleading investors
Attorney General Letitia James said the $50 million settles a lawsuit her office filed against Gemini in October 2023. The lawsuit alleged that Gemini deceived 230,000 investors, including New York residents, through the Earn program in partnership with Genesis Global Capital by failing to disclose the risks.
“Hundreds of thousands of people, including at least 29,000 New Yorkers, had their trust violated and their money defrauded by Gemini through its bogus Earn program,” James said. “Gemini presented its Earn program as a way for investors to grow their money, but in reality it lied and blocked investors from their accounts.”
In May, James’ office reached a similar settlement with Genesis, requiring the company to return $2 billion to affected investors through the Earn program. According to the attorney general, these settlements only applied to Genesis and Gemini, and the lawsuit will continue against Digital Currency Group CEO Barry Silbert and former Genesis CEO Soichiro Moro.
Victims are reimbursed
The settlement prohibits Gemini from operating any cryptocurrency lending programs in New York State. James stated on X that “anyone cheated by Gemini will get their money back.” Gemini Trust reported that affected Earn users can expect to receive “100% of the assets owed to them” within seven days.
James’ office has also taken on other crypto companies allegedly operating illegally in New York. In 2023, lawsuits were filed against former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky and against KuCoin. Mashinsky is facing criminal charges in the Southern District of New York and is expected to go to trial in January 2025.
Source: https://newsbit.nl/gemini-schikkingt-met-new-york-ag-voor-50-miljoen-over-het-earn-programma/
