A US federal judge has denied a joint motion by Gemini Trust Co. and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to unwind their $5 million settlement, according to the court ruling.

The decision keeps the negotiated resolution in force. Both parties had asked the court to undo the settlement they previously reached, and the judge refused.

What did the court decide?

The judge denied the bid to vacate the $5 million settlement. The filing shows both Gemini and the CFTC jointly sought to undo their own agreement, an unusual procedural posture in which the regulator and the respondent aligned on the requested outcome.

The court declined. The $5 million settlement therefore stands as the operative resolution between the exchange operator and the derivatives regulator.

Why does a denied joint motion matter?

When a regulator and a defendant jointly move to undo a settlement, courts retain discretion to refuse. Judges weigh whether vacating a finalized resolution serves the public interest, not merely the parties' preferences.

By denying the motion, the court preserved the settlement as a binding record. The ruling limits Gemini's and the CFTC's ability to revise the terms after the fact, and it leaves the $5 million figure as the documented outcome of the enforcement matter.

What are the operational consequences?

The settlement remains the enforceable resolution between Gemini and the CFTC. The exchange operator cannot relitigate or renegotiate the terms through this procedural channel, and the regulator cannot withdraw the agreed resolution by consent motion alone.

The ruling also sets a constraint on future conduct. Any party seeking to modify a concluded enforcement settlement in this jurisdiction now has a denied joint motion as a reference point, signaling that finalized resolutions carry weight even when both sides ask to undo them.

The docket in the US federal court where the motion was filed records the denial. The $5 million settlement stays on the books as the definitive figure in the matter.

What happens next?

The settlement stands. Unless Gemini or the CFTC pursues a further procedural avenue, the $5 million resolution remains the final disposition, and the court's denial closes this attempt to revisit it.