Gemini, a cryptocurrency exchange, and the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) have come to an agreement wherein Gemini would reimburse clients of the Gemini Earn Program with a minimum of $1.1 billion via the Genesis bankruptcy case.
(Photo : by Marco Bello/Getty Images)Gemini, a cryptocurrency exchange, and the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) have come to an agreement wherein Gemini would reimburse clients of the Gemini Earn Program with a minimum of $1.1 billion via the Genesis bankruptcy case.
In a statement released on February 28, Superintendent Adrienne A. Harris of the NYDFS clarified that Gemini would also be required to pay a $37 million penalty for a number of compliance violations "that threatened the safety and soundness of the company."
Gemini stated that it anticipates that Earn users would get 100% of their bitcoin holdings back plus further appreciation, if the bankruptcy court grants approval.
According to Gemini, 97% of these assets ought to be recouped in two months or less.
According to Harris, Gemini committed to pay $40 million toward the insolvency of Genesis Global Capital (GGC) on behalf of Earn clients.
In February 2021, Gemini introduced the Earn program, in which participants lent their coins to GGC (which Harris pointed out lacked a NYDFS license).
Following that, GGC lent the identical assets to its own counterparties, who paid interest to Earn customers. But in January 2023, GGC filed for bankruptcy and stopped making payments on loans totaling about $1 billion that Earn clients had made.
NYDFS said that Gemini had not thoroughly investigated or kept enough tabs on GGC's behavior during Earn's lifetime.
Gemini Expands European Presence with French DASP Registration
Gemini was granted permission in January to conduct business as a digital asset services provider (DASP) in France. With this new registration, Gemini is now operating in "over a dozen" European states.
It stated that Gemini services would be accessible there in the upcoming weeks, giving institutional and ordinary traders access to over seventy cryptocurrencies. Institutional traders will also be able to trade Gemini eOTC, or electronic over-the-counter, products.
Gemini was the 105th registrant of the financial markets authority Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), according to a December report in the French media. Gemini was granted registration alongside the cryptocurrency exchange OKX PSAN (DASP) concurrently.
Obtaining an AMF license is an additional, voluntary step. The first business to be granted a PSAN license in July was Forge, a division of the French financial institution Société Générale. As of this writing, it is still the only license holder mentioned on the AMF website. A license can only be granted to businesses that are "established in France." In May, Gemini, a US-based company, launched its European Office in Ireland.
