{"id":16435,"date":"2023-01-13T20:32:03","date_gmt":"2023-01-13T20:32:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/sec-charges-genesis-and-gemini-winklevoss-says-regulators-lawsuit-is-super-lame-regulation-bitcoin-news\/"},"modified":"2023-01-13T20:32:03","modified_gmt":"2023-01-13T20:32:03","slug":"sec-charges-genesis-and-gemini-winklevoss-says-regulators-lawsuit-is-super-lame-regulation-bitcoin-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/sec-charges-genesis-and-gemini-winklevoss-says-regulators-lawsuit-is-super-lame-regulation-bitcoin-news\/","title":{"rendered":"SEC Charges Genesis and Gemini \u2014 Winklevoss Says Regulator’s Lawsuit Is ‘Super Lame’ \u2013 Regulation Bitcoin News"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Originally posted on : Bitcoin News )<\/b>
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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged crypto exchange Gemini and crypto lender Genesis Global Capital, a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group (DCG). \u201cThrough this unregistered offering, Genesis and Gemini raised billions of dollars\u2019 worth of crypto assets from hundreds of thousands of investors,\u201d the SEC alleged.<\/strong><\/p>\n

SEC Takes Action Against Gemini and Genesis<\/h2>\n

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced Thursday that it has charged<\/a> Genesis Global Capital LLC and Gemini Trust Company LLC \u201cfor the unregistered offer and sale of securities to retail investors through the Gemini Earn crypto asset lending program.\u201d Genesis is part of a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group (DCG). Noting that the investigation is ongoing, the regulator alleged:<\/p>\n

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Through this unregistered offering, Genesis and Gemini raised billions of dollars\u2019 worth of crypto assets from hundreds of thousands of investors.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The SEC described that in December 2020, Genesis entered into an agreement with Gemini to offer Gemini customers, including retail investors in the U.S., \u201can opportunity to loan their crypto assets to Genesis in exchange for Genesis\u2019 promise to pay interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two companies offered the Gemini Earn cryptocurrency lending program to retail investors between February 2021 and November 2022, the securities watchdog continued, adding: \u201cMore than 50 crypto assets were eligible to be invested in the Gemini Earn program, including bitcoin, ether, USD Coin, and dogecoin.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the SEC:<\/p>\n

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Gemini Earn investors tendered their crypto assets to Genesis, with Gemini acting as the agent to facilitate the transaction. Genesis then exercised its discretion in how to use investors\u2019 crypto assets to generate revenue and pay interest to Gemini Earn investors.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Genesis Halts Withdrawals<\/h2>\n

The SEC detailed that Genesis announced in November last year that Gemini Earn investors would not be allowed to withdraw their crypto assets \u201cbecause Genesis lacked sufficient liquid assets to meet withdrawal requests following volatility in the crypto asset market.\u201d<\/p>\n

At that time, \u201cGenesis held approximately $900 million in investor assets from 340,000 Gemini Earn investors,\u201d the SEC added, noting:<\/p>\n

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Gemini terminated the Gemini Earn program earlier this month. As of today, the Gemini Earn retail investors have still not been able to withdraw their crypto assets.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Last week, Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss published an open letter<\/a> to DCG CEO Barry Silbert regarding the withdrawal freeze. In a follow-up letter<\/a>, he demanded the resignation of Silbert. The DCG boss then wrote a letter to shareholders<\/a> to address accusations against him.<\/p>\n

Gemini\u2019s Co-Founder Calls SEC Action \u2018Super Lame\u2019<\/h2>\n

Following the announcement of the SEC lawsuit against the two crypto firms, Tyler Winklevoss, another Gemini co-founder, took to Twitter to slam the securities watchdog. He explained that the Gemini Earn crypto lending program was regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).<\/p>\n

In addition, Winklevoss revealed: \u201cWe\u2019ve been in discussions with the SEC about the Earn program for more than 17 months \u2026 They never raised the prospect of any enforcement action until after Genesis paused withdrawals on November 16th.\u201d He opined:<\/p>\n

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Despite these ongoing conversations, the SEC chose to announce their lawsuit to the press before notifying us. Super lame.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate that they\u2019re optimizing for political points instead of helping us advance the cause of 340,000 Earn users and other creditors,\u201d the Gemini co-founder concluded.<\/p>\n

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Crypto Exchange Gemini<\/a>, crypto lender Genesis<\/a>, crypto lending program<\/a>, Gary Gensler<\/a>, Gary Gensler Gemini<\/a>, Gary Gensler Genesis<\/a>, Gemini EARN<\/a>, Gemini Earn withdrawals<\/a>, Gemini withdrawals<\/a>, Genesis withdrawals<\/a>, SEC<\/a>, SEC charges Gemini<\/a>, SEC charges Genesis<\/a>, SEC DCG<\/a>, SEC Gemini<\/a>, SEC Genesis<\/a>, sec lawsuit<\/a>, unregistered security offering<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

What do you think about the SEC taking action against Gemini and Genesis over the Earn crypto lending program? Let us know in the comments section below.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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\nKevin Helms <\/h6>\n

\nA student of Austrian Economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open-source systems, network effects and the intersection between economics and cryptography.

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Image Credits<\/b>: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons<\/em><\/p>\n

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