CFTC Chair Michael Selig is moving to reverse a $5 million settlement the agency reached with cryptocurrency exchange Gemini in January 2025, claiming the enforcement action was politically motivated.
Selig gave a CNBC interview on Tuesday stating the agency had “politically targeted” Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss through enforcement actions. “The Biden administration weaponized the federal agencies against the crypto industry and many other industries,” Selig said. “They politically targeted people like the Winklevoss twins, and that’s not acceptable. We’re righting those wrongs. We’re gonna start fresh. The agency should not be used to engage in lawfare.”
The CFTC filed a motion to vacate the settlement last week. Selig acknowledged he is a political appointee nominated by Trump and framed the reversal as part of a broader reset. “I’m not going to get into the facts, because this is an active investigation, litigation rather. But what is important here is that to the extent the agency was used to politically target folks, we’re reversing that, and we’re starting fresh,” he said.
The Winklevoss twins each donated $1 million to Trump’s 2024 election campaign and have attended White House events with President Trump, including the signing ceremony for the stablecoin-related GENIUS Act.
Timothy Massad, former CFTC Chair, called the move “extraordinarily unusual” for the agency to attempt to reverse its position on a previously settled case. The statement underscores skepticism from within the regulatory community about Selig’s approach.
Selig claimed recent CFTC staff cuts targeted people “engaging in lawfare.” He remains the agency’s sole commissioner following a string of resignations and departures in 2025. Many US lawmakers have urged Trump to fill the agency’s five-person leadership panel with a bipartisan group of regulators.
Under Selig’s leadership, the CFTC has taken the position that federal commodities law supersedes individual US states’ authority over prediction market platforms. The agency has filed lawsuits against Minnesota and other jurisdictions attempting to restrict or ban prediction markets, signaling a shift in enforcement priorities.
Selig declined to discuss the original facts of the Gemini case, citing active litigation. Cointelegraph reached out to the CFTC and Gemini for comment but received no immediate response.
