tl;dr
The New York Attorney General's office has recovered $50 million from cryptocurrency platform Gemini, benefiting over 230,000 investors in the company's Earn program. Attorney General Letitia James stated that Gemini misled investors and locked them out of their accounts. This recovery, along with a...
New York Attorney General's office recovers $50 million from cryptocurrency platform Gemini for investors in the Earn program
Gemini misled investors about risks, $50 million settlement makes defrauded investors whole
Gemini and partner Genesis banned from operating in New York, must cooperate in ongoing litigation
Gemini to return $50 million worth of digital assets to investors within seven days
New York Attorney General's office announces $1 billion lawsuit against linked crypto companies
The New York Attorney General's office has recovered $50 million from cryptocurrency platform Gemini, benefiting over 230,000 investors in the company's Earn program. Attorney General Letitia James stated that Gemini misled investors and locked them out of their accounts. This recovery, along with a previous $2 billion settlement from Gemini's partner Genesis, will fully reimburse affected investors. Gemini is also banned from operating in New York and must cooperate with ongoing litigation. The company will return the $50 million worth of digital assets to investors and is prohibited from offering crypto lending products in New York. Additionally, the Attorney General's office recently filed a $1 billion lawsuit against related crypto companies for targeting immigrant and religious communities.
The New York Attorney General's office on Friday said it has recovered approximately $50 million from cryptocurrency platform Gemini on behalf of more than 230,000 investors who participated in the company's Earn program. "Hundreds of thousands of people, including at least 29,000 New Yorkers, had their trust broken and their money swindled by Gemini through its bogus Earn program," said Attorney General Letitia James in the release . “Gemini marketed its Earn program as a way for investors to grow their money, but actually lied and locked investors out of their accounts.” This latest announcement is in addition to a $2 billion settlement that James’ office secured from Gemini's Earn partner Genesis last month, which went to reimburse Gemini Earn users . With Gemini's additional $50 million, investors will now be made completely whole on an "in-kind coin-for-coin basis," the consent order states. "Today's settlement will make defrauded investors whole and should remind cryptocurrency companies that deceiving investors is illegal and will not be tolerated by my office," James said.
Both settlements allege that Gemini misled investors about the risks associated with the Earn program, which it offered in partnership with Genesis Global Capital. The agreement provides full recovery of the assets that investors were unable to withdraw when the program collapsed in November 2022. As part of the agreements—in which Genesis neither admitted nor denied the allegations—the company is also banned from operating in New York. The agreement also requires the company to cooperate with the Attorney General's ongoing litigation against Digital Currency Group, its CEO Barry Silbert, and Genesis' former CEO Michael Moro. Gemini will return approximately $50 million worth of digital assets directly to Earn investors within seven days, according to the consent order filed with the court. Affected investors will be able to access their digital assets in their accounts without taking separate action, according to the announcement. Gemini can no longer offer crypto lending products in New York, as well. Last week, the New York Attorney General's office announced a $1 billion lawsuit against a linked pair of crypto companies that James said “targeted immigrant and religious communities with promises of financial freedom but instead stole their money and drained their life savings.”
Editor’s note: This article was written with the assistance of AI. Edited and fact-checked by Ryan Ozawa .