SEC and Gemini Request 60-Day Halt in Crypto Lending Lawsuit

Crypto

SEC and Gemini Request 60-Day Halt in Crypto Lending Lawsuit

• The SEC and Gemini Trust have jointly requested a 60-day halt in their lawsuit concerning the Gemini Earn program.
• The motion does not clarify if the pause could lead to a settlement, case dismissal, or another outcome.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Gemini Trust have jointly filed a motion to pause their ongoing legal dispute over Geminis crypto lending program.

The motion, which was filed on April 1, 2025, before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, calls for a suspension for 60 days of all deadlines in cases in order for dialogue between parties to continue.

The request does not specify whether the negotiations could lead to a settlement, case dismissal, or another resolution.

Backstory of the Legal Dispute

The SEC initially sued Gemini and cryptocurrency lender Genesis Global Capital in January 2023, saying that their Gemini Earn program illegally raised billions of dollars without being registered as a securities offering.

The scheme enabled customers to lend their crypto holdings, such as Bitcoin, to Genesis in return for interest payments, with Gemini earning a fee of up to 4.29%.

Genesis was severely financially stressed after suspending withdrawals in November 2022. The lender later went bankrupt in early 2023, leaving around 340,000 Gemini Earn customers with $900 million in stuck assets.

Further, this request is part of a larger pattern of case dismissals and settlements by the SEC and in the crypto space. Earlier this year, the agency shut down civil cases against major exchanges Coinbase and Kraken. It also settled partially with Ripple Labs over a complaint of unregistered sales of securities.

Past Settlements and Industry Impact

Gemini has already resolved some of its regulatory issues. In a separate settlement with New York regulators, the exchange agreed to return $2.18 billion to affected customers.

Additionally, in January 2025, before Donald Trump took office, Gemini settled a case with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) by agreeing to pay a $5 million fine.

Meanwhile, Genesis settled with the SEC in March 2024 to pay a $21 million penalty, subject to the finalization of claims in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding. Nevertheless, Genesis never admitted to having done anything wrong in the settlement.

Most campaigners look forward to a friendly regulation policy under Trump‘s administration. Notably, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, co-founders of Gemini, each donated the maximum allowable amount of $844,600 to Trump’s 2024 campaign.