Ex-CFTC Chair: Reversing Gemini Settlement is “Extraordinarily Unusual”

As the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Gemini jointly seek a court reversal of a 2025 settlement, one of the agency’s former chairs said the public “deserves a better explanation.”

A former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission responded to the agency’s decision to seek the reversal of a $5 million settlement with Gemini.

In a motion filed Wednesday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission joined Gemini Trust Company in seeking relief from the judgment in a case originally filed in June 2022. The company reached a $5 million settlement with the CFTC in January 2025 while the agency was operating under former US President Joe Biden.

“The CFTC’s action in reversing itself on a settled case is extraordinarily unusual,” Tim Massad, a former CFTC chair and research fellow at Harvard Kennedy School. “The explanation seems to be that the staff got it wrong, not that the law was unclear.”

According to the CFTC’s motion, relief was sought by the agency based on claims that a whistleblower had been found “not credible” and that evidence was concealed by the commission’s previous leadership.

The motion alleged that Gemini’s former chief operating officer, who served as the whistleblower, made false statements during the company’s Bitcoin futures pre-certification review. The CFTC’s complaint against Gemini also included allegations that inflated trading activity and volume figures were reported, misrepresenting actual user demand.

“Based on the CFTC’s comprehensive review, the CFTC concurs that there were significant deficiencies in [the Division of Enforcement’s] evidence and the Complaint should not have been filed,” said the filing.

Although the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission dropped several enforcement actions and investigations involving crypto companies after Donald Trump took office, no filings had appeared on the public docket in Gemini’s case since Jan. 6, 2025.

“I know of nothing like this happening before, and I think the public deserves a better explanation.”

Gemini Co-Founders Maintain Ties to Current Administration#

Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Winklevoss, co-founders of Gemini, each contributed $1 million to Donald Trump’s 2024 election campaign. The two have also met with Trump and attended White House events, including the signing ceremony for the stablecoin-focused GENIUS Act.

According to a text chain made public in September 2025 by former CFTC commissioner Brian Quintenz, Tyler Winklevoss raised concerns about the CFTC litigation as Quintenz was being considered for Donald Trump’s nomination to lead the agency. Trump later withdrew Quintenz’s nomination, paving the way for Michael Selig to be confirmed as chair and the agency’s current sole commissioner.

Notably, some of the wording used in the CFTC’s motion to vacate closely mirrored language found in the Winklevoss text chain, including references to “abuse” of regulatory authority and a “false whistleblower.”