Letitia James, Attorney General of New York, filed a lawsuit against cryptocurrency companies for allegedly swindling more than $1 billion from around 230,000 investors. The move stemmed from James’s investigation alleging that Gemini Trust Company and its affiliates as well as Digital Currency Group and its CEO Barry Silbert lied to the public and their investors and failed to disclose $1.1 billion in losses.
According to the accusers, middle-class investors were directly hurt by the companies’ “misleading claims and deceptions”. One specific example is a retirement-aged grandmother who lost more than $199,000 of her savings that she planned to apply to her grandchild’s tuition in the Gemini Earn program.
This is not the only turmoil occurring related to cryptocurrency, Silbert is also connected with allegations of fraud regarding the crypto trading firm, Alameda. In November, Alameda filed for insolvency. Expressing condemnation of such fraudulent activities AG Letitia has been pushing for further regulation measures to protect future investors from crypto-related vindications.
