Key Takeaways
- In January, Gemini agreed to settle a CFTC lawsuit for $5 million.
- However, the company has since accused the agency’s enforcement division of misconduct.
- Screenshots reveal that Gemini CEO Tyler Winklevoss pressured CFTC Chair nominee Brian Quintenz to “make amends” for the division’s actions.
President Trump’s nominee to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Brian Quintenz, has accused Tyler Winklevoss of trying to block his confirmation.
Screenshots Quintenz shared on X reveal that the Gemini founders privately pressured him to intervene in a legal dispute involving the crypto exchange.
Quintenz alleges that Winklevoss reached out to Trump directly to ask that his confirmation be paused after he didn’t give them what they wanted.
Gemini vs. the CFTC Explained
The legal battle between Gemini and the CFTC can be traced back to 2022, when the agency accused Gemini of misrepresenting the details of its Bitcoin futures contract.
The complaint alleged that Gemini gave out loans, credits, and advances of bitcoin to traders that it didn’t tell the regulator about. It also downplayed the role of self-trading and custom fee arrangements for select high-value traders, the complaint charged.
Gemini eventually paid a $5 million penalty to settle the matter in January 2025. However, the company has since gone on the offensive, claiming that the CFTC suit rested on fraudulent whistleblower evidence.
In a letter to the CFTC’s Inspector General, Gemini raised “serious concerns and complaints about the conduct” of the agency’s enforcement division.
Winklevoss Pressures Quintenz Over Gemini Complaint
With Quintenz, Gemini seemingly had an ally at the highest level of the CFTC.
In screenshots he shared on Wednesday, Sep. 10, the CFTC Chair nominee expressed his “extreme disappointment” at the agency’s enforcement division for pursuing the Gemini case “so aggressively.”
“I commit you to having a fair and reasonable review of the matter” to determine if the division acted inappropriately, he told Winklevoss via text.
“The implications of, and solutions to this, however, should be unequivocally left to a fully confirmed Chair,” he added
In the conversation that followed, however, the Gemini founder and CEO appeared unsatisfied with Quintenz’s response.
“Cultural reform, which includes rectifying what happened to us, should be the highest priority,” Winklevoss stated.
“I’d like to understand your thoughts on this and how you plan to align with President Trump and the Administration’s to end the lawfare and make amends for it,” he added.
Implications for CFTC Enforcement Staff
While Gemini’s complaint to the CFTC doesn’t make explicit demands, it implicitly calls for an investigation into misconduct by the agency’s enforcement staff.
While a formal misconduct investigation would fall under the remit of the independent Inspector General’s office, as Chair, Quintenz would have the power to refer an investigation or launch an internal review.
The fact that he refused to commit to either doesn’t seem to have landed well with the Winklevosses.
“It’s my understanding that after this exchange they contacted the President and asked that my confirmation be paused for reasons other than what is reflected in these texts,” Quintenz alleged in his post.
“I’ve never been inclined to release private messages,” he noted, but said he decided to do so to ensure the President is not misled.
“I believe transparency and integrity are paramount. Protecting the President and his agenda are more important than any job,” the post stated.
Gemini IPO Raises $425M
With the Quintenz drama brewing in the background, late Thursday, Sep. 11, Gemini finalized an initial public offering that raised $425 million.
Ahead of a stock market debut on Friday, the 15.2 million IPO shares were priced at $28 each. Gemini originally marketed the stock at $24 to $26 apiece.
There has been strong investor interest in a wave crypto firms going public in 2025.
In June, stablecoin issuer Circle’s IPO was 25x oversubscribed.
Meanwhile, ahead of its IPO on Wednesday, Figure Technologies hiked the share price from $18–$20 to $25, raising $787.5 million. The number of shares being offered was also raised, from 26.65 million to 31.5 million shares.
Gemini too raised its IPO price amid strong demand from investors. According to Bloomberg, the offering was “double-digits-oversubscribed.”
Top Trending Crypto Articles
James Morales is CCN’s blockchain and crypto policy reporter. He has been working in the news media since 2020, writing about topics such as payments, banking and financial technology. These days, he likes to explore the latest blockchain innovations and the evolving landscape of global crypto regulation.
With an educational background in social anthropology and media studies, James uses his platform as a journalist to explore how new technologies work, why they matter and how they might shape our future.
