The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has joined Gemini Trust Company in asking a federal court to dismiss a $5 million civil penalty the agency imposed during the Biden administration. In a filing this week, the CFTC said the case “should have never been filed” — a rare admission from a regulator that it pursued enforcement it now considers unwarranted. The reversal comes as the pro-crypto Trump administration reshapes oversight of digital assets.
The joint motion
The CFTC and Gemini filed a joint motion to dismiss the penalty in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. With both sides in agreement, a judge’s approval is expected to be a formality. The original penalty was levied against Gemini in 2022 over alleged violations that Gemini long disputed. The exchange had been fighting the fine ever since.
Why the CFTC changed its mind
Commissioners under the Trump administration reviewed the case and concluded it lacked merit. The agency’s filing stated that the enforcement action “should have never been filed” — language that goes beyond a typical dismissal and signals a fundamental disagreement with the previous regulatory approach. For Gemini, the outcome is a clean win: no settlement, no admission of wrongdoing.
What it signals for crypto regulation
The dismissal is one of the clearest examples yet of the Trump administration’s pro-crypto stance translating into concrete regulatory action. The CFTC under Biden had taken an aggressive enforcement posture toward crypto exchanges. Under Trump, the agency has signaled it will focus on clear rulemaking rather than punitive actions. Whether that trend continues will depend on how the agency handles other pending cases.
For now, Gemini can put the penalty behind it. The Winklevoss twins’ exchange has been operating under the cloud of this case since the Biden era. The dismissal removes a legal distraction and allows the company to focus on its business at a time when U.S. crypto policy is in flux.
