NEW YORK, April 1 (Reuters) - An exchange run by

billionaire twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss may soon resolve

a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit claiming they

failed to register a cryptocurrency asset lending program before

offering it to retail investors.

In a joint letter filed on Tuesday in Manhattan federal

court, the twins' Gemini Trust and the SEC asked to put all

deadlines in the civil case over Gemini Earn on hold for 60 days

to allow the parties to explore a potential resolution.

The letter did not say whether this might entail a

settlement, the SEC dropping its case, or some other outcome.

Neither lawyers for Gemini nor the SEC immediately responded

to requests for comment.

The SEC sued Gemini and cryptocurrency lender Genesis Global

Capital in January 2023 over Gemini Earn, which let customers

lend crypto assets including Bitcoin to Genesis in exchange for

interest payments, with Gemini taking a fee as high as 4.29%.

Genesis halted withdrawals in November 2022, the same month

Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX cryptocurrency exchange collapsed, and

filed for bankruptcy two months later. It held $900 million of

assets from about 340,000 Gemini Earn customers at the time.

The SEC said that in creating Gemini Earn, Genesis and

Gemini bypassed disclosure requirements meant to protect

investors.

Genesis agreed in March 2024 to pay a $21 million fine to

settle, pending the resolution of claims in its Chapter 11 case,

without admitting wrongdoing. Gemini has denied wrongdoing.

The SEC has eased oversight of the cryptocurrency industry

since Donald Trump became president in January, and is widely

expected to remain more supportive of the industry than under

the Biden administration.

In recent weeks, the SEC has ended civil lawsuits against

crypto exchanges Coinbase and Kraken, and agreed to

settle a case against cryptocurrency company Ripple Labs over

the unregistered sale of securities.

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss are each worth $3 billion

according to Forbes magazine.

The case is SEC v Gemini Trust Co et al, U.S. District

Court, Southern District of New York, No. 23-00287.