Continuing a crackdown on cryptocurrency companies, the New York attorney general accused three major players in the digital asset industry of lying to investors and concealing losses in a $1 billion fraud scheme, according to a lawsuit filed on Thursday.
The suit targets Gemini Trust, the exchange run by the twin brothers Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss; the lender Genesis Capital; and Digital Currency Group, the parent company of Genesis.
The attorney general, Letitia James, contends in the suit that Gemini lied to investors about the dangers of Gemini Earn, a program started by Gemini and Genesis that promised investors a high rate of return — up to 8 percent — if they essentially lent their cryptocurrency to Genesis.
But Genesis struggled after the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, founded by Sam-Bankman Fried, imploded last November. It froze accounts amid a crash in digital asset values, leaving Earn investors unable to reclaim…
