Tyler Winklevoss says SEC charges over Gemini are 'super lame' and a 'manufactured parking ticket'

• Tyler Winklevoss called the SEC "super lame" after filing charges against his crypto company.
• Gemini was sued along with Genesis after blocking $900 million of withdrawals in November.

Tyler Winklevoss called regulators "super lame" after his company was hit by charges linked to a $900 million funds crisis.

On Thursday the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Genesis' lending arm Genesis Global Capital and digital currency exchange Gemini for the unregistered offer and sale of crypto asset securities through the Gemini Earn lending program.

Gary Gensler, the SEC chair, said in a statement: "We allege that Genesis and Gemini offered unregistered securities to the public, bypassing disclosure requirements designed to protect investors."

The Winklevoss company, which he runs with twin brother Cameron, launched its Earn program along with Genesis in February 2021, allowing users to lend crypto to institutional investors and earn interest on assets.

However, the collapse of FTX left $900 million of Gemini clients' funds stuck on the platform after Genesis halted withdrawals, prompting a feud between the Winklevoss twins and Genesis' parent company DCG.

In a Twitter thread Thursday, Tyler Winklevoss argued that the SEC action was counterproductive to the company's aim of settling cases with customers.

He added that despite working with the SEC for 17 months, it hadn't raised the prospect of enforcement action until after Genesis paused withdrawals in November.

"Despite these ongoing conversations, the SEC chose to announce their lawsuit to the press before notifying us. Super lame. It's unfortunate that they're optimizing for political points instead of helping us advance the cause of 340,000 Earn users and other creditors," Tyler Winklevoss wrote.

"We look forward to defending ourselves against this manufactured parking ticket. And we will make sure this doesn't distract us from the important recovery work we are doing."

Tyler Winklevoss also questioned the pace of the SEC's action, given the Earn program had been shut down for more than two months.

A representative for the SEC declined to comment further.