New York Attorney General Letitia James has revised a lawsuit against Digital Currency Group (DCG) and its affiliate Gemini Trust Co., escalating the demand for restitution to $3 billion.
This extended lawsuit was filed just hours after Genesis Global had reached a settlement with New York on accusations of defrauding customers through the terminated Gemini Earn program. According to the latest court filing, this adjustment reflects claims from over 230,000 investors, indicating the scale of the alleged fraud is significantly larger than previously believed.
Initially, the lawsuit sought $1.1 billion in October, but the figure was increased following new investor testimonies regarding misleading assurances about investment safety.
The legal action does not introduce fresh allegations against Gemini but focuses on the purported failure of Gemini and Genesis Global Capital, a DCG unit, to inform investors about the dangers associated with a crypto lending program launched in 2021. The program’s downfall coincided with major bankruptcies within the crypto industry, including the collapse of FTX, led by Sam Bankman-Fried.
What is the lawsuit against Gemini and Genesis?
The Gemini Earn program was a collaboration between Gemini and Genesis. It allegedly offered customers up to 8% interest in lending out their crypto assets.
However, the state’s lawsuit claims significant investments were made in unsafe ventures, notably Three Arrows Capital, which went bankrupt, and Babel Finance, where over $100 million was lost, deeply impacting Genesis’s financial stability.
The lawsuit also alleges that Gemini, founded by the famous Winklevoss twins, did not fully disclose the risks associated with their loans. Particularly, they did not highlight that a substantial portion of the third-party loans were made to Alameda Research, owned by Sam Bankman-Fried.
This led to a broader accusation that Genesis and DCG sought to hide the extent of their financial troubles from investors.
