Tyler Winklevoss, the co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, has lashed out at the regulator accusing the platform of issuing unregistered securities, calling the allegations “super pathetic” and a “made up traffic ticket.”
In a series of tweets on January 12, Winklevoss shared his disappointment at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) allegations about Gemini’s “Earn” program, alleging that the regulator was “optimizing for political points”.
He called the SEC’s action “totally counterproductive” and said Gemini had been discussing the Earn program with the regulator “for more than 17 months.”
2/ As a matter of background, the Earn program was regulated by the @NYDFS and we’ve been in discussions with the SEC about the Earn program for more than 17 months. They never raised the prospect of any enforcement action until AFTER Genesis paused withdrawals on November 16th.
—Tyler Winklevoss (@tyler) January 12, 2023
“They never raised the prospect of any corrective action until AFTER Genesis paused withdrawals on November 16,” added Winklevoss.
Gemini’s Earn product launched in February 2021 and officially ran until January 8th. An agreement with Genesis, the cryptocurrency lender and subsidiary of Digital Currency Group (DCG), allowed Gemini users to earn profitability by lending their cryptocurrencies to the market maker company.
In early November, Genesis revealed that it had about $175 million locked up on FTX, as the exchange filed for bankruptcy. DCG sent $140 million to the company in an attempt to shore up its balance sheet, but on November 16 Genesis suspended the withdrawals, citing FTX’s bankruptcy.
Genesis owes 340,000 Gemini Earn users about $900 million, according to open letters from Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss.
Tyler Winklevoss stated that Gemini would defend itself against charges for unregistered securities and would “make sure this doesn’t distract us from the important recovery work we’re doing.”
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