Digital Currency Group (DCG), the crypto conglomerate headed by Barry Silbert, recently made a move to end the lawsuit filed by the Winklevoss-owned Gemini Trust last month. The DCG filed a motion to dismiss Gemini’s fraud lawsuit, claiming that the latter failed to support the claims of fraud laid out in the initial complaint.
As per the filing made in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the DCG stated that Gemini’s allegations of fraud and financial misrepresentation pertained to its business activities with its subsidiary, Genesis Global Capital. However, Gemini’s complaint named DCG as the defendant, instead of Genesis.
The DCG’s motion to dismiss added that following Genesis’ bankruptcy filing in January 2023, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, the founders of Gemini, attempted to pacify the stranded customers of the Gemini Earn Program, by mounting a Twitter-based character assassination campaign. The campaign targeted the crypto conglomerate and its Chief Executive Officer Barry Silbert.
The Digital Currency Group’s motion to dismiss Gemini’s lawsuit stated:
These tweets were personal, vicious, and false, accusing Silbert of “foster[ing] and architect[ing] a culture of lies and deceit” and describing a letter by Silbert as “another piece of carefully crafted stupidity. This complaint is a continuation of that public relations campaign.
According to the DCG, Gemini actively encouraged its customers to lend their crypto assets to Genesis through their Gemini Earn Program. At the time, Gemini presented Genesis as a “sophisticated market participant” that they had thoroughly vetted. DCG argued that Gemini failed to support the fraud claims against it, given that they had nothing to do with Genesis or the Gemini Earn Program.
As far as the lawsuit filed by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss was concerned, DCG stated that it was a continuation of the public relations campaign. The lawsuit was filed on July 7 just days after Cameron sent an open letter to Silbert and publicly threatened litigation.
