New charges against crypto platforms Genesis Global Capital and Gemini Trust Co. by the Securities and Exchange Commission are “disappointing,” said Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder of Gemini, in a Twitter thread on Thursday evening.
Earlier Thursday, the SEC charged Genesis and Gemini with engaging in the offering and sale of unregistered crypto asset securities through Gemini Earn, a violation of securities laws.
“This protects investors. It promotes trust in markets. It’s not optional. It’s the law,” tweeted SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
In response, Winklevoss said the action was “disappointing” and that the behavior of the SEC was “totally counterproductive,” as the platform and other creditors have been “working hard to return funds.”
Winklevoss, in the same Twitter thread, added that “Despite these ongoing conversations, the SEC chose to announce their lawsuit to the press before notifying us. Super lame. It’s unfortunate that they’re optimizing for political points instead of helping us advance the cause of 340,000 Earn users and other creditors.”
In November, Genesis announced that hundreds of thousands of retail investors wouldn’t be able to withdraw crypto assets from the Gemini Earn platform after withdrawal requests exceeded its liquidity, according to the SEC complaint.
At the time, it held about $900 million in investor assets from about 340,000 Gemini Earn investors, which the complaint said were still frozen.
