In a setback to the Trump administration’s pro-cryptocurrency agenda, a federal judge refused on Thursday to lift financial penalties imposed against Gemini Trust, a crypto firm with ties to the Trump family.
The judge denied a request by Gemini and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to undo a court-approved settlement reached just before President Trump returned to office in January 2025. The order required Gemini, a prominent crypto firm, to pay $5 million for misleading federal regulators about its Bitcoin business.
The trading commission and Gemini joined forces in May to try to reverse the outcome of the case, saying that agency lawyers had unduly pressured Gemini to settle and had violated the agency’s standards for legal conduct.
Gemini’s founders are among Mr. Trump’s closest allies in the crypto industry, backing Mr. Trump’s construction of a White House ballroom and financial endeavors involving his two oldest sons.
In his ruling, Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of the Southern District of New York said that the facts of the case had not changed since Gemini, without admitting guilt, agreed to the fine. He said that “Gemini’s highest officials willfully misrepresented material facts” and the firm had settled the case after vigorously litigating the charges for three years.
The penalty against the firm reflected its violations, he said, not “overreaching by the C.F.T.C.”
The agency had no immediate comment on the ruling. Gemini did not respond to a request for comment.
Gemini’s founders, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, have backed the president’s re-election efforts, the White House ballroom and a private club partially owned by Donald Trump Jr. Their investment firm also helped finance a company co-founded by Eric Trump.
The C.F.T.C. has faced criticism for bending over backward to help cryptocurrency and prediction markets, two industries in which the Trump family is heavily invested.
The agency, which oversees the nation’s multitrillion-dollar commodities markets, has mounted far fewer enforcement actions since Mr. Trump returned to office. But crypto and prediction markets have particularly benefited from the rollback in enforcement.
Seamus Hughes contributed reporting.
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