The US CFTC filed a federal lawsuit in New York on Tuesday accusing Gemini Trust Co of making false and misleading statements about a bitcoin futures contract the company was pursuing in 2017.
The agency alleges that Gemini, a crypto exchange led by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, has violated federal laws regarding commodities and is demanding civil fines and other remedies.
Gemini officials “knew or reasonably should have known that the statements and information conveyed or omitted by the company” were false or misleading regarding how a proposed bitcoin futures contract could be susceptible to manipulation, according to the filing.
“We have an eight-year track record of asking for permission, not forgiveness, and always doing the right thing. We look forward to finally proving this in court,” Gemini said in a statement.
Gretchen Lowe, acting director of enforcement at the CFTC, said in a statement that the lawsuit “sends a strong signal that the Commission will act to ensure the integrity of the market surveillance process.”
The CFTC filing noted that Gemini’s proposed bitcoin futures contract was particularly significant because it would be one of the first digital asset futures contracts to be listed on a designated contract market.
In December 2017, a Gemini bitcoin futures contract began trading on the Cboe Futures Exchange under the ticker symbol “XBT”, although it was not immediately clear whether the CFTC’s lawsuit referred to this contract in particular.