Overview
- U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein denied a joint motion on October 15 to vacate the January 2025 consent order, leaving the court judgment in place.
- The 2025 consent order imposed a $5 million civil penalty and a permanent injunction that bars Gemini from making false or misleading statements to the CFTC, and the fine has already been paid with no refund sought.
- In May 2026 the CFTC completed an internal review that concluded the original complaint would not meet the agency’s current standards and raised doubts about the credibility of a whistleblower, which prompted the joint vacatur request.
- The court applied Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60 and emphasized that Gemini voluntarily settled roughly three weeks before trial, finding the agency’s change in view and the disclosed flaws did not meet the high legal standard to reopen the judgment.
- The decision clarifies that agency second‑thoughts or policy shifts do not automatically undo court orders, a result that leaves Gemini bound by the injunction and limits regulators’ ability to erase prior litigation outcomes.