The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged digital asset trading firms, Genesis and Gemini, with offering and selling unregistered securities.
The SEC’s filed complaint alleges that Gemini and Genesis’ crypto asset lending program, Gemini Earn, facilitated the offer and sale of unregistered securities to retail investors, allowing both firms to raise billions of dollars’ worth of crypto assets.
The enforcement action outlines how the crypto asset-lending scheme allowed its customers to tender their crypto tokens to Genesis in exchange for an attractive interest rate. Gemini charged agent fees on these transactions (up to 4.29%).
In November 2022, Genesis announced it would not allow Gemini Earn customers to withdraw their crypto assets as it lacked sufficient liquidity to meet withdrawal requests. At the time of this statement Genesis held approximately $900 million in investor assets from over 300,000 Gemini Earn investors. Genesis’ parent company Digital Currency Group (DCG) is considering selling assets to raise money to pay off the more than $3 billion it owes to creditors.
Earlier this month, Gemini ended the Gemini Earn program, with retail investors still unable to withdraw their assets.
Tyler Winklevoss, Gemini CEO, took to Twitter to respond to the SEC’s Thursday filing, stating: "It’s disappointing that the @SECGov chose to file an action today as @Gemini and other creditors are working hard together to recover funds. This action does nothing to further our efforts and help Earn users get their assets back. Their behavior is totally counterproductive […] It’s disappointing that the @SECGov chose to file an action today as @Gemini and other creditors are working hard together to recover funds. This action does nothing to further our efforts and help Earn users get their assets back. Their behavior is totally counterproductive.”
In a statement, SEC chair Gary Gensler said: “Today’s charges build on previous actions to make clear to the marketplace and the investing public that crypto lending platforms and other intermediaries need to comply with our time-tested securities laws. Doing so best protects investors. It promotes trust in markets. It’s not optional. It’s the law.”