Gemini co-founders Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Winklevoss attend the company’s IPO on the Nasdaq Marketsite on September 12, 2025 in New York City, USA.
Gina Moon | Reuters
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Wednesday asked a judge to cancel the agency’s $5 million fine against a cryptocurrency exchange founded by twin brothers who donated to President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign.
The CFTC said the regulator should never have accused Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss’ Gemini Trust Company of making false statements related to its Bitcoin futures business.
Gemini settled the CFTC charges in January 2025, during the final weeks of President Joe Biden’s administration, paying a $5 million penalty and agreeing to an injunction prohibiting the company from making false or misleading statements to the CFTC.
However, Gemini and the CFTC agreed to void the settlement, citing changes to the CFTC’s policies regarding crypto enforcement under the Trump administration.
The Winklevoss brothers each donated $1 million in Bitcoin to the 2024 election campaign.
The CFTC and Gemini said in a joint court filing that the settlement should be rescinded and that the CFTC “resorted to improper tactics” to “extract a settlement from Gemini” by filing suit.
The CFTC and Gemini said that under the Biden administration, the CFTC filed a lawsuit against Gemini based on discredited whistleblowing and that Gemini was in fact the victim of fraud by the company’s former chief operating officer and two customers who received fraudulent kickbacks from Gemini.
Rather than investigating Gemini for wrongdoing, the CFTC investigated Gemini for allegedly making misleading statements about the health of its Bitcoin futures trading business, according to a joint court filing.
While the lawsuit was pending, the regulator improperly used its authority by informing Gemini that it could not obtain approval for a new prediction market platform while the CFTC enforcement action was pending, according to court filings. Gemini received approval for a prediction market product called Gemini Titan in December 2025.
It was not clear from the court filing whether Gemini would be reimbursed for the $5 million in fines it has already paid. Gemini did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Wednesday.
The Winklevoss twins first came to public attention when they sued Mark Zuckerberg for stealing their idea for Facebook. The two companies reached a cash and stock settlement in 2008.
Last year, Brian Quintenz, Trump’s first nominee to head the CFTC, accused Tyler Winklevoss of lobbying the White House to block Trump’s nomination over the CFTC lawsuit. President Trump ultimately withdrew Quintenz’s nomination and appointed Michael Selig as the CFTC’s new chairman.
