Cryptoupdated 2h ago2 min read
Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein Denies Gemini and CFTC Bid To Vacate $5 Million Settlement
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Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein denied Gemini-CFTC bid to vacate $5 million settlement. The $5 million penalty remains paid and the permanent injunction stays in place.
Gemini-CFTC settlement stands
U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein denied Gemini Trust Company and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s joint bid to vacate the January 2025 consent order, leaving Gemini’s $5 million penalty paid and a permanent injunction in force.
Hellerstein ruled on October 15, 2026, and he rejected arguments that enforcement misconduct findings, a shift in digital asset policy, and post-settlement materials justified reopening the final judgment.
The consent order bars Gemini from making false or misleading statements to the CFTC, and the restriction remained in place even after the judge’s decision.
The dispute traces back to 2017, when Gemini made statements to the CFTC during a Bitcoin futures self-certification review that the agency alleged were false or misleading, and the CFTC filed a formal complaint in June 2022.
Gemini agreed to settle roughly three weeks before a scheduled trial, and the consent order was entered in January 2025 without Gemini admitting or denying the allegations.
Why the bid failed
Hellerstein rejected the CFTC’s internal review conclusion that the original complaint should not have been brought under current enforcement standards, and he found that the regulator’s changed position did not justify undoing the January 2025 agreement. The ruling also rejected Gemini’s claim that regulators had coerced the exchange into settling, and the judge emphasized that Gemini agreed to settle voluntarily roughly three weeks before trial. Hellerstein said Gemini’s receipt of additional internal CFTC documents after the settlement may have caused regret, but he held that it did not create a post-judgment change in factual circumstances making continued application of the consent order inequitable.
The CFTC’s internal review cited reliance on a whistleblower with credibility issues, improper regulatory pressure, and efforts to prevent the disclosure of evidence, and it also identified concerns about whether Gemini had adequate access to materials needed for its defense. The court characterized the Trump administration’s digital asset executive order and the CFTC’s revised enforcement approach as shifts in policy rather than a significant change in law.
What remains in place
The decision leaves Gemini bound by the permanent injunction and the $5 million civil penalty, and it keeps the consent order’s forward-looking restrictions on what Gemini tells the CFTC. The CFTC said in June that it would no longer enforce restrictions on Gemini publicly denying the complaint’s allegations, but the court’s ruling still maintained the settlement’s continuing terms. The case also keeps the consent order’s no-denial provision in place as described in the record, even as the CFTC later said it would stop enforcing such restrictions.
Gemini’s founders, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, remain central to the dispute, and the sources describe their political and business ties as part of the backdrop to the legal fight. Gemini continued operating in the U.S. and shifting its business toward the American market, and the ruling signaled that a friendlier approach to crypto regulation would not automatically erase earlier court judgments.