The New York Attorney General’s Office (NYAG) announced on June 14 the completion of the settlement with Gemini and the recovery of $50 million for users of the defunct Gemini Earn program.
Users receive the crypto in their account without having to take any further action.
The settlement resolves legal charges brought against Gemini by the NYAG and bans the exchange from operating crypto lending programs in New York.
It also requires Gemini to cooperate with the NYAG’s investigation into Genesis parent company Digital Valuta Group (DCG), DCG CEO Barry Silbert and former Genesis CEO Soichiro Moro.
The NYAG said Gemini “allegedly misled thousands of investors about the risks” by offering the Gemini Earn program with Genesis Global Capital. Gemini Earn’s failure reportedly affected more than 230,000 users, including at least 29,000 New York residents.
New York Attorney General Letitia James said:
“Gemini marketed its Earn program as a way for investors to grow their money, but in reality lied and blocked investors from their accounts.”
Final distribution within a week
Gemini confirmed the settlement the same day and said it would make the settlement final distribution of the funds available to users within seven days. The promotion will return the last 3% of crypto that the exchange owed to users when the Earn program was suspended.
The company affirmed the conclusion of the NYAG lawsuit, stating:
“We are also pleased to announce that… Gemini has entered into an agreement with the New York Attorney General (NYAG) to settle the lawsuit filed by the NYAG against Gemini on October 19, 2023.”
Gemini returned more than $2 billion in cryptocurrency to customer accounts on May 29, repaying 97% of the money it owed to customers. It made the distributions in kind, meaning that users who loaned one Bitcoin to the program received one Bitcoin in return.