In a ruling Thursday, US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan rejected a joint motion by Gemini Trust Co and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to vacate a consent judgment entered in January 2025.

The settlement resolved the CFTC's 2022 lawsuit alleging Gemini made false or misleading statements during the agency's review of a proposed Bitcoin futures contract.

Gemini agreed to pay a $5 million penalty and accepted a permanent injunction after litigating for more than three years, settling shortly before trial. The judge found the parties failed to meet the legal standards required to set aside the settlement.

The unusual twist is that the agency that brought the case wanted it gone.

In May 2026, the CFTC and Gemini jointly asked Hellerstein to wipe out the settlement and court order, arguing the 2022 complaint would not have been filed under the Trump administration's friendlier, narrower crypto enforcement priorities.

TradingView notes this is the reverse of the familiar legal battle in which an exchange disputes a regulator's allegations — here both parties wanted relief from the court's earlier judgment. The CFTC and Gemini even said the agency had "resorted to inappropriate tactics" in bringing the lawsuit.

Hellerstein reasoned that Gemini had litigated against the CFTC for more than three years before voluntarily agreeing to settle, and that the agency's current view of the case does not require vacating the settlement.

As Coin Edition reports, the judge found the arguments did not satisfy the legal requirements for overturning the agreement. Gemini also agreed it would not receive a refund of the $5 million penalty even if the settlement were vacated — removing the financial incentive on the exchange's side.

The ruling leaves the original agreement and penalty fully intact.

The decision matters far beyond Gemini. Other crypto businesses hoping a more accommodating federal regulatory environment might unwind historical enforcement outcomes now have a clear answer: courts retain control of their judgments even when a regulator changes its view of a case.

TradingView's analysis draws the wider message that Washington's approach to cryptocurrency may have become more favourable, but companies cannot assume previously approved settlements will disappear alongside the political circumstances in which they were reached.

In the immediate term, very little changes for the Winklevoss-founded exchange. The settlement remains in effect, the $5 million penalty stands, and the court has not imposed a new fine.

Reuters, carried by Devdiscourse, reports that the CFTC and a lawyer for Gemini did not immediately respond to requests for comment, leaving open whether either party will pursue further review.

For now, the ruling signals that even a rare joint request from both litigants cannot reopen a final judgment without meeting demanding legal standards.