The New York Attorney General’s (NYAG) office announced the completion of its settlement with Gemini and the recovery of $50 million for users of the defunct Gemini Earn program on June 14.
Users will receive the crypto in their accounts without having to take any further action.
The settlement resolves the legal charges filed by the NYAG against Gemini and bars the exchange from operating crypto lending programs in New York.
It also requires Gemini to cooperate in the NYAG’s investigations of Genesis parent Digital Currency Group (DCG), DCG CEO Barry Silbert, and former Genesis CEO Soichiro Moro.
The NYAG said Gemini “allegedly misled thousands of investors on the risks” by offering the Gemini Earn program with Genesis Global Capital. Gemini Earn’s failure reportedly impacted over 230,000 users, including at least 29,000 residents of New York.
New York Attorney General Letitia James said:
“Gemini marketed its Earn program as a way for investors to grow their money, but actually lied and locked investors out of their accounts.”
Final distribution within a week
Gemini confirmed the settlement the same day and said it would make the final distribution of funds available to users within seven days. The action will return the final 3% of crypto the exchange owed users when the Earn program was suspended.
The company confirmed the conclusion of the NYAG’s 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 the NYAG brought against Gemini on October 19, 2023.”
Gemini returned more than $2 billion in crypto to customer accounts on May 29, completing the return of 97% of the funds it owed to customers. It made the distributions in-kind, meaning that users who lent one Bitcoin to the program received one Bitcoin back.
