In a significant legal triumph, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that cryptocurrency platform Gemini Trust has agreed to return $50 million to customers who invested in the failed Gemini Earn program.
This resolution follows a lawsuit by James, who accused the company of misleading its investors about the program’s risks.
The settlement is a major win for James and provides relief to over 230,000 investors, including 29,000 New Yorkers, who will now be reimbursed.
“We recovered $50 million from cryptocurrency platform Gemini for defrauding hundreds of thousands of investors,” James shared on social media. “Everyone that Gemini deceived will get their money back.”
James filed the lawsuit in October, alleging that Gemini misrepresented the safety of its investment program.
The agreement ensures that defrauded investors will receive a full recovery of the assets they invested in Gemini Earn, which had become inaccessible when the program collapsed.
According to the New York Attorney General’s Office, eligible investors will receive their digital assets directly in their accounts without needing to take any additional action.
This settlement comes on the heels of another recent victory for James against Genesis Trading, the crypto platform that collaborated with Gemini on the Earn program.
James had accused Genesis of similarly misleading investors about the program’s risks. Last month, her office secured a $2 billion settlement from Genesis, which also included a ban on Gemini operating any cryptocurrency lending programs in New York.
“Hundreds of thousands of people, including at least 29,000 New Yorkers, had their trust broken and their money swindled by Gemini through its bogus Earn program,” James stated in a news release. “Gemini marketed its Earn program as a way for investors to grow their money, but actually lied and locked investors out of their accounts. Today’s settlement will make defrauded investors whole and should remind cryptocurrency companies that deceiving investors is illegal and will not be tolerated by my office.”
The Gemini Earn program had promised high interest rates to customers who lent their crypto assets to third-party borrower Genesis.
However, the program eventually froze assets, leaving investors unable to withdraw their funds until now.
