Political targeting alleged by CFTC chairman in effort to overturn Gemini's $5M settlement
The chairman of the CFTC is attempting to undo enforcement measures against the firm established by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, who contributed to Trump's presidential bid and have participated in White House gatherings.
Michael Selig, the current Chair of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), has asserted that enforcement measures taken against the founders of digital currency platform Gemini represented "political targeting" by the agency during former President Joe Biden's tenure.
Speaking with CNBC during a Tuesday broadcast, Selig stated his administration at the CFTC is working to "get back to a baseline" regarding enforcement practices, following what he characterized as the politicization of the agency by Biden's team. Although Selig recognized his role as a political appointee selected by US President Donald Trump, he asserted that recently disclosed staff reductions focused on individuals who were "engaging in lawfare."
"The Biden administration weaponized the federal agencies against the crypto industry and many other industries. 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."
Michael Selig, CFTC Chair
The CFTC, now headed by Selig, filed a motion last week requesting a federal court nullify the agency's $5 million settlement agreement with Gemini, an accord finalized in January 2025 prior to the commission operating under the Trump administration. The Winklevoss twins, Cameron and Tyler, who co-founded Gemini, contributed $1 million each to Trump's 2024 presidential election campaign and have subsequently participated in White House functions alongside the president, including the ceremonial signing of the GENIUS Act concerning stablecoins.
"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."
Michael Selig, CFTC Chair
Timothy Massad, who previously served as CFTC Chair, described the agency's attempt to reverse its stance on a case that had already been settled, such as Gemini's situation, as "extraordinarily unusual." Cointelegraph made attempts to contact both the CFTC and Gemini requesting statements but had not received responses at the time of publication.
Selig leads CFTC policy as the agency's sole commissioner and chair
The CFTC under Selig's leadership has adopted the stance that federal commodities regulations take precedence over the authority of individual US states concerning prediction market platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket. The agency has initiated legal proceedings against Minnesota along with other jurisdictions that have attempted to impose restrictions or prohibitions on prediction markets.
Following a series of resignations and exits from the agency's leadership throughout 2025, including former acting chair Caroline Pham, Selig continues to serve as the CFTC's only commissioner. Numerous US legislators have called upon Trump to populate the agency's five-member leadership board with regulators representing both major political parties, though the president had not made any nominations public as of Tuesday.