Genesis to Pay SEC $21M Penalty to Settle Charges Over Gemini Earn Product

CoinDeskPolicyPublished on 2024-03-18Last updated on 2024-03-19

Abstract

The settlement comes days after a New York judge denied motions by Genesis and crypto exchange Gemini to stop the SEC case.

  • Genesis Global Capital will pay $21 million as a civil penalty in a settlement with the SEC that has now been formalized.
  • The SEC will not receive any "portion of the penalty until after payment of all other allowed claims," the regulator said in a statement.

Bankrupt crypto lender Genesis Global Capital has agreed to a final judgment ordering it to pay $21 million to settle charges with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for violating securities laws for its role with the now-defunct Gemini Earn program, the SEC announced Tuesday.

The settlement comes days after a New York judge denied motions by Genesis and crypto exchange Gemini to stop the SEC case filed in January 2023 from moving forward. Genesis and two affiliates had filed for bankruptcy shortly after the SEC charges.

In February 2024, Genesis said in court documents it had agreed with the SEC to settle the charges for $21 million, and it appears the deal has now been finalized.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Critically, the SEC will not receive any "portion of the penalty until after payment of all other allowed claims by the bankruptcy court," the announcement said.

“Today’s settlement builds on previous actions to make clear to the marketplace and the investing public that crypto lending platforms and other intermediaries need to comply with our time-tested securities laws," said SEC Chair Gary Gensler in a statement.

Read More: DCG Calls Out Subsidiary Genesis' Settlement With New York as 'Subversive'

Edited by Nikhilesh De.

Related Reads

BIT Research: Liquidity is Disappearing, Will Bitcoin Replay the Bottoming Pattern of 2022?

The crypto market is currently in an adjustment phase driven by policy expectations and liquidity shifts. Despite a brief rebound fueled by geopolitical easing and SpaceX's strong IPO performance, unexpectedly hawkish signals from new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh have removed anticipated easing support. Concurrently, stablecoin liquidity is shrinking, with insufficient new capital inflows, pushing the market into a typically quiet summer period. Pricing lacks catalysts for a sustained rally. Daily trading volume has significantly contracted, stablecoin growth has slowed markedly, and the supportive effect of Strategy's (formerly MicroStrategy) STRC preferred stock-financed Bitcoin purchases is fading. Amid policy uncertainty, seasonal weakness, and liquidity contraction, Bitcoin faces near-term downward pressure. Warsh's hawkish pivot and refusal to provide a clear policy outlook have increased risk premiums, historically unfavorable for Bitcoin. Technically, the trend remains bearish below $73,700, with $62,446 as critical support. A break below could accelerate declines, though a prolonged consolidation phase, similar to 2022's bottoming process, is possible. Liquidity is a core constraint. Current daily volume is around $500 billion, roughly 25% of the peak during the July-Oct 2025 rally. The 12-month growth rates for USDT and USDC have fallen to ~20%, with 6-month growth near zero, indicating weak new inflows. Bitcoin ETF and Strategy-driven inflows have also weakened, with a 30-day rolling net outflow. With inflation at 4.2% above the Fed's target, combined hawkish policy, seasonal factors, and liquidity shortages challenge Bitcoin's ability to hold above $60,000. However, this adjustment phase may be forming a cyclical low this summer, potentially setting the stage for the next bull cycle.

marsbit6m ago

BIT Research: Liquidity is Disappearing, Will Bitcoin Replay the Bottoming Pattern of 2022?

marsbit6m ago

Mining Companies' High-Stakes Bet on AI: Valuations Enter a Phase of Divergence, Uphill Battle Ahead

Crypto miners are facing increasing pressure amid weak digital asset markets, pushing many to pivot towards AI infrastructure as a new growth avenue. Leveraging existing assets like power resources, land, and cooling systems, miners can convert facilities for AI compute at lower costs. This transition narrative has fueled significant stock rallies, with some miners' shares outperforming Bitcoin year-to-date. Market valuations have diverged, with pioneers like CoreWeave reaching a multi-billion dollar valuation, while others lag. The shift is driven by AI's explosive demand for data centers and compute, with clients willing to pay premiums for power and space. However, the transformation is capital-intensive, requiring massive funding for GPU procurement and facility upgrades, with an estimated short-term funding gap of $50 billion. Miners are raising capital through convertible bonds, Bitcoin sales, and securing long-term AI contracts to finance the build-out. While AI offers greater long-term potential than mining, success hinges on execution, timely project delivery, and securing quality tenants, moving the valuation focus from power capacity to cash flow and return metrics.

marsbit34m ago

Mining Companies' High-Stakes Bet on AI: Valuations Enter a Phase of Divergence, Uphill Battle Ahead

marsbit34m ago

Who Makes the Best Use of Claude Code? The Answer Might Not Be Programmers

Claude Code Usage Report Summary (Based on ~400k sessions) Core Finding: In agentic programming with Claude Code, a clear division of labor has emerged: humans primarily decide *what* to build (planning decisions), while Claude decides *how* to build it (execution decisions). Key Insights: 1. **Effectiveness is not limited to programmers.** In code-generation tasks, success rates for users in non-technical fields (law, finance, management, research) are nearing those of software engineers. What matters most is the user's domain expertise and understanding of the problem to be solved. 2. **Domain expertise drives success and efficiency.** Sessions where users exhibited "expert" proficiency in the task's domain saw verified success rates double compared to "novice" sessions. Experts also delegated more work per instruction, with Claude executing more actions and producing more output. 3. **AI is amplifying, not replacing, domain knowledge.** Claude Code lowers the *implementation* barrier, not the *judgment* barrier. The value of knowing the "what" and "why" is increasing relative to just knowing the "how" to code. 4. **Usage is evolving.** Over a 7-month period (Oct '25 - Apr '26), the share of sessions for debugging halved, while use for software operations, data analysis, and non-code writing roughly doubled. The estimated economic value of typical tasks increased by ~25%. Conclusion: The data suggests coding agents are making programming background less critical for completing technical tasks. However, they reward and amplify deep domain understanding. The ability to successfully direct an AI agent stems more from mastery of a specific field than from coding skill itself. The primary gains come from being competent in a domain; deep specialization adds only marginal additional advantage. This may signal a shift where software creation becomes integrated into various professions.

marsbit41m ago

Who Makes the Best Use of Claude Code? The Answer Might Not Be Programmers

marsbit41m ago

Strategy's Preferred Stock STRC Unpegs by 11%, Can Its Perpetual Motion Machine Keep Spinning?

The preferred stock STRC issued by Strategy (MicroStrategy) has depegged over 11% from its $100 target par value, raising questions about the sustainability of the company's capital flywheel strategy. STRC, a perpetual preferred stock designed to trade around $100, serves as a key engine for Strategy's expansion, allowing it to raise fiat currency via at-the-market offerings to buy Bitcoin without diluting common shareholder equity. Its depegging, despite dividend rate hikes, suggests market concerns extend beyond yield to the core stability of Strategy's model. Analysts point to potential leveraged unwinding and, more critically, worries about Strategy's liquidity. While the company cites its massive Bitcoin holdings as covering decades of dividends, a recent small BTC sale—a first—has shaken confidence in its "never sell" narrative. If STRC remains discounted, impairing Strategy's fundraising ability, fears may grow that the company could be forced to sell Bitcoin to meet obligations, potentially turning a major market buyer into a seller and exerting significant downward pressure on Bitcoin's price.

marsbit1h ago

Strategy's Preferred Stock STRC Unpegs by 11%, Can Its Perpetual Motion Machine Keep Spinning?

marsbit1h ago

Nobel Laureate Becomes New Employee at Anthropic

Nobel laureate and AlphaFold lead John Jumper has left Google DeepMind after nearly nine years to join AI company Anthropic. Jumper, who co-won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on the protein-structure-predicting AI, led the AlphaFold project from its early stages, revolutionizing structural biology by predicting hundreds of millions of protein structures. His departure follows closely that of Transformer co-inventor Noam Shazeer, who recently left Google for OpenAI, marking a significant talent drain for the tech giant. Analysts suggest top AI researchers are seeking environments where individual impact can more directly shape a company's trajectory. Anthropic's hiring of Jumper signals a major push into AI for life sciences. The company recently acquired biotech firm Coefficient Bio and is building wet labs, aiming to drastically accelerate drug discovery and biomedical research. This move aligns with a broader trend, as OpenAI and Google DeepMind (via Isomorphic Labs) are also heavily investing in AI-driven biology and healthcare. The stage is now set for intensified competition among AI leaders to redefine life sciences through artificial intelligence.

marsbit1h ago

Nobel Laureate Becomes New Employee at Anthropic

marsbit1h ago

Trading

Spot
Futures
活动图片