A federal commodities regulator is requesting a judge cancel a $5 million fine it levied against a digital currency trading platform owned by twin brothers Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, who contributed to President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission stated Wednesday that regulators should not have charged the Winklevoss brothers’ Gemini Trust Company with providing false information related to its bitcoin futures operations.
Gemini resolved the CFTC allegations in January 2025 during the closing days of President Joe Biden’s term, paying the $5 million fine and accepting an order prohibiting the firm from providing false or deceptive information to the CFTC.
However, both Gemini and the CFTC now concur the agreement should be canceled, pointing to the CFTC’s revised approach to cryptocurrency enforcement under Trump.
Each Winklevoss brother contributed $1 million in bitcoin to his 2024 election campaign.
In joint court documents, the CFTC and Gemini argued the settlement should be reversed and that the CFTC had “resorted to inappropriate tactics” to file a lawsuit and “extract a settlement from Gemini.”
The CFTC and Gemini stated that the agency, during the Biden administration, filed suit against Gemini using a whistleblower report that lacked credibility, and that Gemini was actually defrauded by the company’s former chief operating officer and two clients who obtained illegitimate rebates from Gemini.
Instead of probing the fraud committed against Gemini, the CFTC investigated Gemini for supposedly making deceptive statements about its bitcoin futures trading operations’ integrity, the joint court filing stated.
During the case proceedings, regulators improperly used their authority by informing Gemini it would not gain approval for a new prediction market platform while the CFTC’s enforcement proceeding was active, the court filing indicated. Gemini obtained approval for its prediction market service, named Gemini Titan, in December 2025.
The court filing did not specify whether Gemini would receive a refund for the $5 million penalty it has already paid. Gemini did not respond immediately to a comment request late Wednesday.
The Winklevoss twins initially became publicly known after filing suit against Mark Zuckerberg, claiming he took their concept for Facebook. They reached a settlement in 2008 for cash and stock.
Trump’s original choice to head the CFTC, Brian Quintenz, alleged last year that Tyler Winklevoss lobbied the White House to delay his nomination due to the CFTC lawsuit. Trump eventually withdrew Quintenz’s nomination and appointed Michael Selig as the CFTC’s new chair.
