Over three months have passed since Gemini’s UK subsidiaries filed their 2021 accounts.
Gemini didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment on the delay in filing its 2021 accounts with Companies House. The deadline for Gemini’s 2021 accounts was Sept. 30, 2022.
Despite the fact that failing to file a company’s accounts on time is fairly common, it is considered a criminal offence under the Companies Act 2006. Businesses that fail to submit their accounts promptly receive a penalty, which depends on the length of the delay. For example, accounts that are between three and six months late are fined £750 ($900). If two consecutive financial years are late, the fine doubles.
Fintech giant Revolut, for instance, missed its Sept. 30 deadline and received an extension until Dec. 31, which it also missed.
Gemini was co-founded by twins Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss and is headquartered in New York. The exchange operates in the UK since 2020 and is registered with the FCA for cryptoassets. According to Companies House filings on Dec. 22, its UK subsidiaries have recently been renamed from Gemini Europe Ltd. and Gemini Europe Services Ltd.
Additionally, the exchange recently secured a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license in Ireland, which enables it to expand into Europe after raising more than $400 million from investors such as Pantera Capital and 10T Holdings.
It isn’t the first time Gemini has been late in filing its UK accounts. Gemini Payments UK filed its 2020 accounts on March 2022, followed by Gemini Intergalactic UK in August 2022.
The woes of Gemini
When rival crypto exchange FTX collapsed, Gemini had to pause withdrawals for its Gemini Earn program, which allowed users to lend out their crypto for returns.
The exchange partnered with Genesis Global Capital, the lending arm of crypto trading firm Genesis, for its Earn program. Following the collapse of FTX and Three Arrows Capital, Genesis’ lending arm had to pause withdrawals, which forced Gemini to freeze Earn funds as well.
As part of the issue, Cameron Winklevoss sparred with Barry Silbert, the director of Digital Currency Group (DCG). According to Winklevoss, Gemini has attempted to unlock funds multiple times with Silbert and DCG, Genesis’ parent company, but has not been successful.
On Twitter, Silbert defended DCG and said his company delivered its own proposal to Gemini on Dec. 29 without receiving a response.
In a proposed class action lawsuit filed last week against Gemini and the Winklevoss twins, investors allege fraud and violations of the Exchange Act against the company and its founders. Several sources familiar with the matter have reported that Noah Perlman, Gemini’s chief operating officer, also left the company at the beginning of this year.
The exchange missed its UK accounting deadline, but it’s unclear if that had anything to do with its broader troubles.
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In 2021, Michael McCaffrey, former CEO and majority owner of The Block, took a series of loans from Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of FTX and Alameda. As a result of failing to disclose these transactions, McCaffrey resigned from the company in December 2022.