The Gemini Earn lawsuits ended with customers made whole. Roughly 232,000 users of the Gemini Earn program lost access to about $940 million in crypto when Genesis Global Capital froze withdrawals in November 2022, and the freeze triggered actions by the SEC, the New York Attorney General, the New York Department of Financial Services, and private plaintiffs. By mid-2024, Earn users had received 100% of their digital assets back in kind. The SEC’s case was dismissed in January 2026.
What Gemini Earn Was
Gemini Trust Company launched the Earn program in February 2021 under an agreement with Genesis Global Capital, a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group. Customers lent their crypto to Genesis and earned interest rates as high as 7.4% annually. Gemini acted as agent and collected a fee that sometimes reached 4.29% of the returns Genesis paid.1SEC. SEC Charges Genesis and Gemini for the Unregistered Offer and Sale of Crypto Asset Securities The program operated in kind: a customer who lent one bitcoin was owed one bitcoin back.
On November 16, 2022, the same day FTX filed for bankruptcy, Genesis suspended loan redemptions, citing a shortage of liquid assets.2CNBC. Genesis Lending Unit Halts Withdrawals in Aftermath of FTX Collapse Gemini paused Earn withdrawals the same day. Genesis filed for Chapter 11 in January 2023, and Gemini terminated the Earn program that month.3Banking Dive. Genesis Completes Restructuring, Begins Payouts For about 18 months, users could not touch their assets.
What Earn Users Recovered
On May 29, 2024, Gemini announced that Earn users had received $2.18 billion in digital assets back in kind, representing 100% of the crypto originally owed. Because prices had risen since the November 2022 freeze, that recovery was worth 232% of the dollar value at the time withdrawals were halted.4CoinDesk. Gemini Announces Full Recovery of Earn Users’ Digital Assets
The recovery ran through the Genesis bankruptcy and a series of settlements. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York confirmed Genesis’s Chapter 11 plan on May 21, 2024, and the plan took effect on August 2, 2024.5Cleary Gottlieb. Genesis Completes Debt Restructuring A collateral dispute between Gemini and Genesis over Grayscale Bitcoin Trust shares was resolved through a global settlement approved in April 2024, which cleared the way for expedited in-kind distributions.6Gemini. Gemini Earn The final roughly 3% of assets was distributed in June 2024 after a settlement with the New York Attorney General.7Yahoo Finance. Gemini to Settle With NY AG for $50M
SEC Case Against Gemini and Genesis
On January 12, 2023, the SEC charged Genesis Global Capital and Gemini Trust Company with the unregistered offer and sale of securities through the Earn program. The complaint, filed in the Southern District of New York, alleged violations of Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act of 1933 for raising billions from investors without the disclosures securities registration requires.1SEC. SEC Charges Genesis and Gemini for the Unregistered Offer and Sale of Crypto Asset Securities SEC Chair Gary Gensler described the case as part of a broader effort to bring crypto lending platforms under existing securities law.8New York Times. SEC Sues Gemini and Genesis Over Crypto Lending Program
The SEC and Gemini filed a joint stipulation dismissing the enforcement action with prejudice on January 23, 2026. The SEC cited the “100 percent in-kind return of Gemini Earn investors’ crypto assets” and the completion of state and regulatory settlements. No monetary penalty was imposed by the SEC, and no formal settlement was reached; the case was dismissed outright.9SEC. SEC v. Genesis Global Capital, Litigation Release No. 26465 The New York Times reported that the dismissal was part of a broader pullback from crypto enforcement under the Trump administration.10New York Times. SEC Dismisses Lawsuit Against Gemini Trust
New York Department of Financial Services Consent Order
The New York State Department of Financial Services reached a consent order with Gemini on February 28, 2024. DFS found that Gemini had failed to adequately vet or monitor Genesis despite publicly telling customers the borrower had been screened through a robust risk management framework. DFS also found Gemini had made misleading statements about the program’s safety and had operated it without adequate loss or liquidity reserves.11NYDFS. Enforcement Action Against Gemini Trust Company
Under the consent order, Gemini agreed to pay a $37 million civil penalty to DFS, contribute at least $40 million to the Genesis bankruptcy estate for the benefit of Earn users, and commit to full coin-for-coin restoration of customer assets.12Reuters. Gemini to Return $1.1 Billion to Customers, Pay Fine in Settlement With New York Regulator
New York Attorney General Case
Attorney General Letitia James originally sued Gemini, Genesis, and Digital Currency Group in October 2023, then filed an amended complaint on February 9, 2024, focusing on DCG, its CEO Barry Silbert, and former Genesis CEO Soichiro “Michael” Moro. The complaint alleged the defendants had concealed a “$1.1 billion structural hole” in Genesis’s balance sheet after Three Arrows Capital defaulted in June 2022, using an illiquid promissory note to misrepresent Genesis’s financial condition.13NY Attorney General. Attorney General James Expands Lawsuit Against Cryptocurrency Company Digital Currency Group
Gemini settled its portion of the case in June 2024 by agreeing to pay $50 million to cover the final roughly 3% of assets still owed to Earn users. The settlement permanently bars Gemini from operating a crypto lending program in New York and requires the company to cooperate with the ongoing case against DCG, Silbert, and Moro.7Yahoo Finance. Gemini to Settle With NY AG for $50M The claims against DCG, Silbert, and Moro remain active, with the office seeking more than $3 billion in restitution.13NY Attorney General. Attorney General James Expands Lawsuit Against Cryptocurrency Company Digital Currency Group
Private Class Actions
In December 2022, a proposed class action, Picha et al. v. Gemini Trust Company, LLC (Case No. 22-cv-10922), was filed in the Southern District of New York against Gemini and Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss personally, alleging securities law violations in connection with the Earn program. The proposed class covers customers who invested in Earn between February 2, 2021, and December 27, 2022.14Kim & Serritella LLP. Gemini Earn Class Action FAQ In March 2024, a federal judge granted Gemini’s motion to compel arbitration, finding that a valid arbitration agreement covered the Earn accounts and requiring investors to arbitrate their claims rather than litigate them in court.15Law360. Gemini Scores Arbitration Bid in Earn Crypto Investment Suit
A separate proposed class action was filed in November 2025 in the Southern District of Florida by BAO Family Holdings LLC against the Winklevoss twins and Gemini. The complaint alleges the Earn accounts were unregistered securities and that the twins, as corporate leaders and indirect owners, are personally responsible for account losses.16Bloomberg Law. Winklevoss Twins, Gemini Sued by Owners of Genesis-Tied Accounts
A Separate CFTC Case
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s 2022 case against Gemini is often mentioned alongside the Earn matters but is unrelated to the lending program. It concerned allegations that Gemini made false or misleading statements during the 2017 self-certification process for a bitcoin futures contract, including about prefunding requirements, fee rebates, and trade volume.17CFTC. CFTC Press Release Regarding Gemini Settlement Gemini settled in January 2025 for $5 million and a permanent injunction, and in May 2026 the CFTC and Gemini jointly asked the court to vacate the settlement, with the agency stating the original complaint “should not have been filed — and would not have been under current enforcement standards.”18CoinDesk. U.S. CFTC Files Request to Erase Gemini Settlement That It No Longer Considers Fair