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Genesis Global Trading Pays $8M to Settle New York Lawsuit

The crypto lender also agreed to cease its business activities in New York and forfeit its BitLicense to settle anti-money laundering and fraud charges against it.

NYDFS Superintendent Adrienne Harris (Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock/CoinDesk)
NYDFS Superintendent Adrienne Harris (Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock/CoinDesk)

Genesis Global Trading has agreed to pay $8 million and give up its BitLicense to settle anti-money laundering and fraud charges against it, New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) Superintendent Adrienne A. Harris said Friday in a statement.

“Genesis Global Trading’s failure to maintain a functional compliance program demonstrated a disregard for the Department’s regulatory requirements and exposed the company and its customers to potential threats,” Superintendent Adrienne Harris said in a statement first seen by Fortune.

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Under the settlement, Genesis will also cease its operations in the state. The agreement comes amid an ongoing lawsuit filed in October by the New York Attorney General's Office that alleges Genesis Global defrauded investors by covering up more than $1 billion in losses alongside its parent company Digital Currency Group and Gemini Trust.

The NYAG's office did not immediately return a request for comment on what the settlement would mean for that case.

Genesis says the entity named in the complaint ceased operations last September and has been gradually wound down for "business reasons."

"Genesis had taken substantial measures to address these historical deficiencies [mentioned in the lawsuit] and is pleased to resolve this matter," Genesis said in a statement sent to CoinDesk.

Genesis has faced a slew of legal troubles since last year. In January, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Genesis with selling billions of dollars worth of unregistered securities to hundreds of thousands of investors. The firm declared bankruptcy that month and remains in court proceedings to recover millions of dollars of lost investor funds as of the time of writing.

Elizabeth Napolitano

Elizabeth Napolitano was a data journalist at CoinDesk, where she reported on topics such as decentralized finance, centralized cryptocurrency exchanges, altcoins, and Web3. She has covered technology and business for NBC News and CBS News. In 2022, she received an ACP national award for breaking news reporting.

Elizabeth Napolitano