--- title: "Former Employees Say Problems Were Obvious at the Winklevoss’ Exchange Before It Paused Withdrawals" description: "Gemini, the Winklevoss twin-founded crypto exchange, guaranteed Earn users high returns and product safety. Some ex-employees say Gemini downplayed risk." date: "2022-12-11" modified: "2022-12-11" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/winklevoss-twins-crypto-exchange-halts-withdrawals" categories: - "Blockchain" - "Future Society" tags: - "crypto" - "cryptocurrency exchanges" - "gemini" - "winklevoss twins" --- # Former Employees Say Problems Were Obvious at the Winklevoss’ Exchange Before It Paused Withdrawals ![Gemini, the Winklevoss twin-founded crypto exchange, guaranteed Earn users high returns and product safety. Some ex-employees say Gemini downplayed risk.]() *\Image: ImageCatcher via Getty / Futurism\* It's been [nearly a month]() since Gemini, the crypto exchange founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss — otherwise known as the Winklevii, or the towering billionaire twins of "being completely screwed over by Mark Zuckerberg" fame — halted customer withdrawals, a direct result of fellow exchange FTX's collapse into bankruptcy. If very recent history repeats itself, it's unlikely that Gemini's users, who [*The Financial Times* reported]() last week are owed a collective $900 million, will ever get their money back. Now, perhaps too little too late, former employees are sounding the alarm, [explaining to *The Daily Beast*]() that the writing was on the wall. Or, at the very least, the writing was in both the bold and small print of Gemini's "Earn" accounts, the exchange's high-yield savings accounts, which one [former employee]() says prioritized Gemini revenue over customer safety. "The business makes money on fees, so how do you get more fees? You invent a new product. I think that was the overall sentiment inside the company," one unnamed ex-employee told the *Beast*, adding that when he and others first read the product's terms and conditions back in 2021, "\[we\] were like, 'Holy shit, are you fucking kidding me?'" Gemini's Earn accounts, which promised users that their funds could be redeemed "at any time," seemed straightforward. Hand Gemini your digital assets, and through its lending partner Genes it would make you money. The model is depressingly similar to those of the high-yield accounts offered by fellow crypto firms [Celsius](), [Voyager Digital](), [and FTX](), all of which have: • Filed for bankruptcy within the past six months. • Are yet to return user funds. • Are currently being sued. (FTX and Voyager, it's worth noting, are both [specifically being sued]() over their high-yield accounts, which plaintiffs claim were sold as unregistered securities.) All to say: were the accounts risky? Sure. But according to another former employee, the Winklevii downplayed any potential danger. "Gemini definitely sold \[the Earn program\] as like, 'It's hassle-free. It's easy. Get your crypto back right away, no delays," Nick Fuhrmann, a former Gemini data engineer, told the *Beast*. Though he left the company in November 2020, Fuhrmann remained an Earn account user, and is one of the many Gemini investors struggling to get his money back. "It kind of came across as less of a risk, at least to me." Indeed, Gemini's marketing language was distinctly optimistic. The company took a sort of "I'm not like other girls" approach, noting on the [product's homepage]() that "unlike other opportunities to earn interest on your cryptocurrency, you can redeem and move your cryptocurrency back to your trading account (plus interest) at any time!" "Put your crypto balance to work," read the Earn program website, promising users up to "7.3 \[percent\]" returns. Alas, a lofty promise, and one it seems that Gemini was unable to keep. While they've promised Earn users that "returning \[user\] funds" is their "highest priority," their official bankruptcy, along with that of Genesis, may well be imminent. In the meantime, we're glad they have their "[hard-hitting rock band" Mars Junction]() to fall back on. Between potential bankruptcy and furious users, it's good to have a supportive hobby — although, as a quick scroll through Mars Junction Instagram comments might suggest, the optics of another Mars Junction Coping Tour maybe wouldn't be so great. "Maybe instead of focusing on your shitty band," [wrote]() one deservedly angry netizen, "you should be focusing on how to get Gemini customers their money back." **READ MORE:** *[Billionaire Winklevoss Twins' $900M Disaster Is No Shock]()* \[*The Daily Beast*\] **More on the FTX fallout:** *[Crypto Investors Despondent after Losing Life Savings in FTX "Bloodbath"]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()