Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing three cryptocurrency companies — Gemini, Genesis, and Digital Currency Group (DCG) — over claims they misled investors, leading to the loss of over $1 billion. In a lawsuit filed on Thursday, James says their alleged fraudulent schemes affected over 230,000 investors.
The lawsuit targets Gemini, the crypto exchange owned by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, and its Earn program. The firm marketed Gemini Earn as a high-yield program that involved customers investing with Genesis Global Capital, which is owned by DCG. However, James alleges that Gemini knew investing with Genesis was risky and misled customers as a result.
These companies repeatedly told investors that their money was secure,…