As noted by my partner Daniel Besikof, the failure of various blockchain businesses is leading to a number of complications in Bankruptcy Court. However, these complications are now edging into allegations of outright fraud. The dimensions of the fraud alleged by Gemini here appear to be both fuzzy and sweeping. The Gemini allegations expressly include "Silbert’s false, misleading, and incomplete representations and omissions to Gemini." These clearly constitute fraud allegations. Fraud allegations, which I spent most of my career working with, can provide a powerful tool for companies when dealing with bad actors, even if they used to be insiders in your own company. However, fraud allegations require specificity and particularity. As a practical matter, this means that you have to allege what was said (or withheld), how it was fraudulent, and why these fraudulent statements matter. Any company interested in exploring fraud claims needs to wrestle with that need for specificity. There are obvious benefits to that level of specificity -- you are stating the meat of the claim from the beginning - but there are also significant downsides -- the higher pleading threshold makes the claims more vulnerable to motions to dismiss and also diminishes the ability to develop the theories through discovery. It will be very interesting to see these specific allegations from Gemini and how the case progresses.
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Gemini Sues the Digital Currency Group and Its Founder for Fraud
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Crypto exchange Gemini is suing Digital Currency Group and its founder Barry Silbert, with Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss accusing Silbert of being "the architect and mastermind of the DCG and Genesis fraud against creditors."