Katherine Ross

Digital Currency Group filed a motion to dismiss Gemini&#8217;s lawsuit on Thursday.



The filing claims that the lawsuit is a misdirection led by Gemini and its founders, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, to redirect “irate customers.” 



Lawyers representing defendants <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/digital-currency-group">Digital Currency Group</a> and CEO <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/barry-silbert">Barry Silbert</a> claimed that the Winklevoss twins “began an effort to deflect blame by contriving a public, Twitter-based character assassination campaign against Defendants DCG (Genesis’s indirect parent) and Silbert (DCG’s founder)—neither of whom operated or oversaw the Gemini Earn program.&#8221;



However, Genesis — which is not listed as a defendant in the suit — coordinated the Gemini Earn Program with <a href="http://blockworks.co/tag/gemini">Gemini</a>. It goes on to say that the named defendants — Silbert and DCG — “had virtually nothing to do” with the Gemini Earn Program.



DCG attempts to further clarify that the two are “separate companies” and that <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/genesis">Genesis</a> has its own executive and management teams.



Outside of the “misrepresentations” of claims made by Gemini, DCG and Silbert claim that Gemini did not “adequately and particularly” allege fraud, meaning that the suit should be dismissed because it lacks the necessary claims for it to move forward.



“Taken down to its actual substance, the Complaint identifies just one allegedly false representation by Defendants to Gemini— Silbert’s statements at the October 2022 lunch with Winklevoss,” the suit said.



Gemini itself, according to the motion, admitted that other events led to the injuries it claims which include the collapse of FTX, the “alleged misrepresentations by Genesis” and the decision “by third parties to file suit with Gemini.”



Gemini and the Winklevoss twins <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/gemini-suit-accuses-dcg-silbert-of-aiding-and-abetting-fraud">filed their complaint on July 7</a>, alleging — as stated above —that DCG “aided and abetted Genesis in making fraudulent misrepresentations to Gemini with respect to Genesis’s financial condition and the support it received from DCG.”



At the time, DCG said that the complaint was a “publicity stunt.”



On Thursday, the firm referred to the lawsuit as “ridiculous” and added, in a <a href="https://twitter.com/DCGco/status/1689670266752823296">tweet</a>, that it wished to “continue working towards our mission of accelerating the development of a better financial system” if the lawsuit is dismissed.



Prior to the suit, the Winklevosses <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/winklevoss-dcg-gemini-earn">attempted to claw back $1.2 billion </a>from DCG and Silbert, which it claims was owed to its Earn program because of the Genesis ties.



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Gemini lawsuit is filled with ‘misrepresentations,’ DCG claims in motion to dismiss

Sebastian Sinclair

Gemini plans to expand its presence across Asia-Pacific (APAC) with the appointment of a regional CEO, Pravijt Tiwana, and the establishment of an engineering center in Gurgaon, India.



The move is part of the New York-domiciled exchange’s strategy to grow its international business and capitalize on increasing demand for crypto and Web3 products, according to a company blog post.



As Gemini APAC’s CEO, Tiwana will be responsible for launching and expanding region-specific products and services, leading go-to-market strategy and managing profit and loss. He will continue to serve as the exchange’s global technology chief, per the <a href="https://www.gemini.com/blog/pravjit-tiwana-named-ceo-of-gemini-asia-pacific-apac" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">post</a>.



Gemini’s expansion plans include building out product and engineering teams in India and expanding its business in the country, alongside Singapore, where it will focus on growing its customer base, according to a separate <a href="https://www.gemini.com/blog/gemini-to-expand-global-engineering-and-operations-teams-with-new-india-office">post</a> on Thursday.



The news comes as major crypto firms in the US are <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/eventus-crypto-compliance-works" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">beginning to chafe</a> under increased regulatory scrutiny from US agencies. Only this week, Coinbase revealed its own offshore desires in <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/coinbase-abu-dhabi-bermuda-derivatives" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">expanding to Bermuda and Abu Dhabi</a> in preparation to launch derivatives trading.



Gemini, owned by early bitcoin billionaires Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, was charged with violating securities laws through its <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/genesis-gemini-charged-with-securities-violations-by-sec" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lend program</a> at the start of the year, alongside financial services firm Genesis. The SEC claims the violations involved billions of dollars of crypto “principally from US retail investors.”



Even so, Gemini&#8217;s decision is a sign that it believes in crypto’s resurgence after a painful 2022. APAC has proven to be one of the largest crypto markets in the world, according to a <a href="https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/central-southern-asia-oceania-cryptocurrency-geography-report-2022-preview/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Chainalysis industry report</a>.



“Gemini has big plans for international growth this year in APAC,” Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss said in the post. “We believe that crypto and Web3 products will continue to have a strong growth trajectory in APAC.”



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Coinbase

Gemini Joins Coinbase in Offshore Expansion, This Time in APAC

Ben Strack

<div id="highlights-block_61e87c8091e63" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The acquisition and integration of Omniex will help simplify the experience for institutional investors looking to go deeper into crypto, the company said</li>
 <li>Gemini announced the acquisition of digital asset portfolio management platform BITRIA last week</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Less than a week after announcing its acquisition of digital asset portfolio management platform BITRIA, crypto exchange <a href="https://www.gemini.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Gemini</a> has bought trading technology platform <a href="https://omniex.io/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Omniex</a>.&nbsp;



Founded in 2017 by former State Street executives, Omniex provides order, execution and portfolio management system solutions for institutional crypto trading.



The acquisition and integration of Omniex into Gemini&#8217;s existing institutional custody, clearing and trading solutions simplifies the experience for institutional investors looking to go deeper into crypto, said Dave Abner, Gemini’s global head of business development.



Specifically, the integration will provide a single point of access to multiple exchanges and OTC liquidity sources, tools and algorithms to ensure trade transparency, and a trading experience with application programming interface (API) connectivity, according to Gemini’s <a href="https://www.gemini.com/blog/gemini-acquires-trading-technology-platform-omniex-launches-gemini-prime" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Wednesday announcement.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;



The buy allows Gemini to publicly launch a crypto prime-brokerage offering, <a href="https://www.gemini.com/prime" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Gemini Prime</a>, which select clients have been using over the past year. The product’s full rollout is slated for the second quarter.



The Omniex team will be joining Gemini to expand and drive platform capabilities for the prime services division.



Gemini is seeking to build out its institutional business with crypto solutions that resemble offerings within traditional finance, Abner told Blockworks. 



The company announced <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/gemini-now-a-one-stop-shop-for-advisors-after-bitria-buy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">its purchase of BITRIA</a> last week. That acquisition allows financial advisors to gain exposure beyond the closed-end funds and spot ETFs focused on the largest tokens, Abner previously noted.



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BITRIA

Gemini Acquires Crypto Trading Tech Platform Omniex

Jacquelyn Melinek

<div id="highlights-block_60cba71147ed7" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The New York-based company is the first regulated platform in the US and UK to offer trading and custody support for tokens including the new Fantom (FTM) and Alchemix (ALCX). </li>
 <li>In May, Gemini announced it has more than $30 billion in cryptocurrency under custody, Blockworks previously reported.</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Gemini announces support for a set of six new tokens available for trading in the US and UK, the company said in an <a href="https://www.gemini.com/blog/gemini-now-supports-ankr-and-alchemix-in-addition-to-new-defi-and" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announcement</a>.&nbsp;



The company has been focusing on several key areas as it expands the digital assets it offers on its platform, including <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/the-investors-guide-to-defi/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">DeFi</a>, infrastructure and tokens that support the <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/price/metaverse" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Metaverse</a>.



Since the platform first listed DeFi tokens last year, it has seen a steady increase of trading of DeFi tokens, irrespective of broader market activity, the company told Blockworks on June 17.&nbsp;



The New York-based company is the first regulated platform in the US and UK to offer trading and custody support for tokens including the new Fantom (FTM) and Alchemix (ALCX).&nbsp;



Trading and custody is available with the two new tokens mentioned above in addition to Ankr Network (ANKR) and Mirror Protocol (MIR). These four are available for trading on Gemini’s applications for trading pairs.&nbsp;



“Our mission is to empower the individual through crypto, and we believe that DeFi promises greater choice, independence, and opportunity for all,” the company told Blockworks. “We believe in the potential of DeFi and want to help usher in this next wave of growth and financial innovation.”&nbsp;



The company was founded in 2014 and offers custody and trading services to institutional clients and retail investors.&nbsp;



With the new addition of these tokens, Gemini ups its trading and custody to a cumulative 45, with a further 13 available for custody.&nbsp;



In May, Gemini announced it has <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/gemini-surpasses-30-billion-in-crypto-under-custody/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">more than $30 billion in cryptocurrency</a> under custody, Blockworks previously reported.&nbsp;



“As we continue to expand the range of tokens offered on our platform we are thrilled to add more DeFi, infrastructure, and data management tokens that help drive the crypto ecosystem forward and further support the scalability and utility of blockchain networks,” the company said.