The Ustates Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has petitioned a judge to annul a $5 million fine against the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini Trust Company, contending that the agency should not have charged the firm with issuing false statements regarding its bitcoin futures operations.

The CFTC and Gemini jointly submitted documents on Wednesday requesting the annulment of a settlement reached in January 2025 during the tenure of former President Joe Biden, wherein Gemini paid a $5 million civil fine and consented to an injunction preventing any deceptive or misleading communications with the agency.

The agency and the cryptocurrency platform stated that the settlement should be dismissed due to the CFTC’s revised stance on crypto regulation under former President Donald Trump.

In their submission, the CFTC and Gemini claimed that the agency had employed “inappropriate tactics” to initiate the lawsuit and “pressure Gemini into a settlement.”

Additionally, they asserted that the lawsuit stemmed from a whistleblower account deemed unreliable.

The filings indicated that Gemini was actually a victim of fraud involving its former Chief Operating Officer and two clients who reportedly received fraudulent rebates.

Instead of investigating the fraudulent activities against Gemini, the CFTC pursued allegations that the company had made misleading claims about the reliability of its bitcoin futures operations, as per the collaborative court filings.

The court documents also alleged that regulators warned Gemini it would not get approvals for a new prediction market platform while the enforcement action was active. Gemini eventually secured approval in December 2025 for its prediction market offering, Gemini Titan.

It remains unclear from the court documentation whether Gemini would receive a refund for the $5 million fine already disbursed.

Gemini was established by twin brothers Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Winklevoss, who each contributed $1 million in bitcoin to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.

The case has also been intertwined with a conflict over the leadership of the CFTC. Former CFTC chair nominee Brian Quintenz accused Tyler Winklevoss last year of lobbying the White House against his nomination due to the agency’s lawsuit against Gemini.

Subsequently, Trump withdrew Quintenz’s nomination and appointed Michael Selig to lead the regulator.

The Winklevoss twins gained public attention when they sued Mark Zuckerberg, claiming he stole their idea for Facebook. The lawsuit was settled in 2008 for a mix of cash and stock.