Gemini users are unhappy with the Winklevoss twins

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are entrepreneurs who are known for suing Mark Zuckerberg for stealing their idea, but just recently, one user got really upset with them.

The issue mainly focused on Winklevoss's Bitcoin trading platform Gemini. On the evening of November 13, a user of the Gemini trading platform submitted a huge Bitcoin transaction order and set the price at US$2,200 per Bitcoin.

However, the Gemini trading platform canceled the transaction.

Gemini cited a “customer error” that “ qualified the transaction for our reversal under our terms of service.”

Mike Miescke said in a written statement to Bitcoin News: "I immediately responded to the email stating that I did not accept their reversal and requested that they restore my account to the correct balance according to their terms of service, and pointed out that ' customer error ' was not a valid reason for them to reverse my transaction. " Gemini later published a blog post to the affected user.

“Dear User - I am writing this to let you know that we recently published a blog post that addresses the issue you raised (you can find it by clicking on the 'Blog' link at the top right of the Gemini homepage). We understand that you may not agree with our decision to reverse your transaction. We appreciate that you expressed your concerns and hope that our solution is satisfactory to you. Thank you for choosing Gemini and we look forward to having you trade with us again in the future.

Sincerely,

Gemini Customer Service Center”

So, what does Gemini’s user agreement say? In the “Gemini Liability and Risk Terms ” section, the company states:

We strive to provide you with accurate information, but we cannot guarantee that the information on Gemini will never be wrong. Therefore, we will not be responsible for you, or other individuals or institutions:

…

1. Any completed transaction;

2. The price at which you bought or sold the digital asset on Gemini;”

Gemini wrote in the “ Terms of Use” section:

“During regular operations, your order on the Gemini platform will only be executed if the market price is within your order price limit.

…

We reserve the right to require all orders to pass an automated compliance check. If your order is flagged for review or meets certain criteria, it may require manual review and approval. We try to review these orders in a timely manner, but we are not responsible for any delays. If you have any questions about the status of your order at any time, you can check your latest order status on the Gemini platform. We may cancel orders that are flagged for review and have not been manually approved.

If your order is suspected before execution, we may require you to confirm your order request via telephone or other form of identity verification.

In the "Complex Transaction Terms " section it states:

     “You acknowledge and agree that when using the Gemini platform to buy and sell, you will have sufficient common sense to help you complete such complex transactions. You are responsible for ensuring that all orders and transactions on the Gemini platform are accurate and intentional. If your account entry and exit activities exceed your usual activities, sometimes we may determine at our discretion that you need to provide a second electronic, verbal, written or other form of identity verification.”

Finally, Gemini wrote in its “System Interruption or Failure Clause” :

    “We reserve the right to reverse and/or cancel one or more orders if: (1) there is a disruption or failure in the operation of any part or all of any electronic communications equipment, trading equipment, storage equipment, recording device or other equipment of Gemini or Digital Assets; or (2) there is any other significant disruption in trading on the Gemini platform, its systems or Digital Assets, such that cancellation of orders may be necessary to maintain fair and orderly markets or to protect individuals or the public interest. In the event of such disruption or failure, our Chief Executive Officer, President and Chief Legal Officer (or their designees), or such other person as the Board of Governors may designate, will review such orders and declare such orders void if they are caused by the Gemini operational disruption. In the absence of extraordinary circumstances, our Chief Executive Officer, President and Chief Legal Officer (or their designees), or such other person as the Board of Governors may designate, will take the actions set forth above within two business days of becoming aware of the trading error, disruption or failure. We will notify you as soon as possible if you are involved in such an event.”

Cameron Winklevoss pointed out that the company's user agreement expresses the opposite view of Miescke : "We reserve the right to quote, place orders and reconcile as necessary and appropriate."

A heated debate ensued on popular bitcoin forums, with some suggesting that Gemini's cancellation of the account transaction could have caused a "serious outage."

In the stock market, trade cancellations appear to be more than the exception but the norm, as according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 96% of trades in its stock market are ultimately canceled.

Miescke claimed that Gemini is biased against certain customers. Bitcoin exchange BitMex expressed similar views in a blog post about the current situation of Gemini.

Miescke believes that Gemini has neither put in place the proper rules to protect sellers nor facilitate transactions, including adding protections to the system like “they wrote this in their terms of service.” He believes that this transaction should be experienced once.

     “If I experienced a transaction like this, I believe an individual user who purchased $2,200 worth of books would have ample grounds to sue Gemini,” Miescke said. “Gemini states that all orders must pass an automated check, and some orders are flagged as such in their terms of service if they meet certain criteria. They don’t list the specific criteria, but you can assume that ‘fat finger’ orders that cause a massive drop in trades are easily flagged.”

CCN reached out to the author of the Gemini blog post and offered some suggestions, including some to fix the company’s current situation.