Judge Rejects Gemini and CFTC Request to Scrap Settlement
The federal judge is keeping the $5 million settlement from 2025 in place, despite the CFTC’s later change in direction. That keeps the Gemini case and a bitcoin futures contract legally relevant.
Key Takeaways
- A U.S. federal judge rejected Gemini and the CFTC’s request to undo their $5 million settlement.
- The judge kept the injunction from the January 2025 settlement in place, despite the regulator’s later change in direction.
- Gemini remains active in the U.S., even though the company had already announced plans to leave the U.K., the EU, and Australia.
A U.S. federal judge has rejected the joint request from crypto exchange Gemini and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to undo a $5 million (€4.5 million) settlement. That means the January 2025 deal stays in place, even though the regulator now says the case should never have been brought in the first place.
Settlement Stays in Place
Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled on Thursday that the CFTC’s change in direction is not enough to overturn the earlier ruling. He also rejected Gemini’s argument that the company had been pressured into settling.
Gemini, founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, has already paid the $5 million (€4.5 million). Because of the ruling, the injunction also stays in force, barring the company from misleading the CFTC or publicly denying the findings from the settlement.
The case centered on a 2023 complaint in which the CFTC said Gemini had misled regulators during a 2017 review of a proposed bitcoin futures contract. Gemini settled three weeks before trial without admitting or denying wrongdoing.
Washington Is Not Reversing Course
The ruling shows that a friendlier stance toward crypto in Washington does not automatically apply retroactively to earlier cases. Even if the regulator and the company now agree to drop it, existing court rulings still stand.
That matters for the broader crypto market, because the CFTC is working on a clearer framework for crypto. In October 2026, the regulator published an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to ask for public comment on rules for retail commodity transactions involving crypto assets. That step is meant to bring more clarity and consumer protection, but it does not automatically change earlier rulings.
Focus Shifts to the U.S.
For Gemini, the ruling fits into a broader shift toward the U.S. market. The company can still stay active in the U.S. and launch new products, but it still has to live with the terms of the 2025 settlement.
The ongoing uncertainty around U.S. crypto rules makes cases like this especially important for exchanges that want to keep operating in the U.S. As long as Congress does not set a clear market structure framework, regulators and judges will keep playing a major role.
Earlier this year, Gemini also announced that it would leave the United Kingdom, the European Union, and Australia, and cut 25% of its staff. The company said at the time that it wanted to put more resources into the U.S. market and prediction markets, while continuing to operate in Singapore.
