tl;dr
The SEC has dropped its investigation into Gemini, with no charges filed. This comes as part of the Commission's recent trend of dropping investigations and closing active lawsuits, including those against Opensea, Robinhood, and Uniswap. However, co-founder Cameron Winklevoss is not satisfied and h...
The SEC has dropped its investigation into Gemini, with no charges filed. This comes as part of the Commission's recent trend of dropping investigations and closing active lawsuits, including those against Opensea, Robinhood, and Uniswap. However, co-founder Cameron Winklevoss is not satisfied and has called for stiff penalties against the SEC to discourage future crackdowns on crypto.
Winklevoss expressed deep hostility towards the SEC and emphasized the need for serious consequences for what he perceives as bad faith actions. This development reflects the broader dilemma faced by the crypto industry regarding its relationship with the SEC, which has shifted under new leadership.
The SEC, one of the US largest financial regulators, has been on a spree recently. In the last week, it dropped investigations against Opensea, Robinhood, and Uniswap, but it isn't done there. Cameron Winklevoss, co-founder of Gemini, announced today that the SEC also shuttered an investigation against his firm.
Winklevoss claimed that the SEC sent Gemini a Wells Notice under a year ago, but its investigation never involved formal charges. Recently, the Commission has been dropping legal battles at a fast rate, settling with Coinbase and preparing an agreement with Tron in a civil fraud case. None of these reconciliatory measures seem to have moved Winklevoss much.
Winklevoss took an extremely hostile stance towards the regulators responsible, suggesting stiff penalties for the Commission, making the SEC pay Gemini 3x the cost of its legal bills, banning its employees from employment at federal agencies for life, and other "serious consequences for bad faith actors."
This plays into a fundamental dilemma that the crypto industry is facing in light of its newfound political influence. Under new leadership, it has shown downright enthusiasm for making new regulations. Therefore, the dilemma is this: should crypto try to use the Commission or destroy it?