Winklevoss Twins' Startup Gemini Will Pay Burned Customers $1B | Hacker News Reader

Winklevoss Twins' Startup Gemini Will Pay Burned Customers $1B

thedailybeast.com

74 pointskelt30 comments

The draw of Gemini was always that it was a New York-regulated crypto exchange that presented as similar to traditional exchanges.

For institutional traders, they even provide a standard FIX API over cross-connect in the NY5 data center in New Jersey. This is something that institutions understand how to connect to and work with.

(In contrast, most crypto exchanges have/had highly bespoke systems of questionable quality)

https://docs.gemini.com/fix-marketdata/

So the Gemini Earn thing has always confused me. If your entire shtick is legitimacy and being subject to competent regulation, then why would you release a product like that?

I guess I’ll have to attribute it to the reality-distortion field of the crypto hype. They must have actually believed that either 1) the product was sound or 2) they would avoid the fallout when it exploded.

Perhaps it was a case of middle ground - they believed they had enough runway to make an exit before serious fallout because they believed the product would attract enough gains to pay out to Earn users. The market was revealed to be very "smoke and mirrors" so whether Earn was going to last long or not, it was built during a bubble cycle and didn't survive the correction.

I suspect they weren't making any money because there's no profit in legitimate crypto trading so in desperation they branched out.

The best explanation I have is that during 2021 the US government looked pretty weak and a lot of companies forgot laws exist.

Definitely a whole lot of very weird things happened during the pandemic that people are going to have a very hard time explaining when questioned.

And they will be questioned.

> If your entire shtick is legitimacy and being subject to competent regulation, then why would you release a product like that?

We call it greed, but it’s a consistent feature of trusted institutions being tempted to sell out that brand for short-term gains.

My hypothesis is the trusted market is efficient, and so tends towards consolidation and low margins. The untrusted market is more cottage-like, with small players and large margins. If you’re an institution, it’s tempting to try that high-margin field, leveraging your trusted brand for scale.

> Gemini said it was “pleased to announce that we have finally reached a settlement in principle with Genesis and other creditors in the Genesis Bankruptcy that will, if approved by the Bankruptcy Court, result in all Earn users receiving 100% of their digital assets back in kind.”

The in kind bit is interesting. What are the odds that these assets have dropped in value over the period they've been in limbo?

The assets (mostly BTC and ETH) have risen in value.

Genuinely surprise this was the outcome, I had some balances in the Earn program under redemption since Jan 2023, been a long wait

Good! I always found it hilarious when the Winklevoss twins were raging on Twitter trying to shift the blame for the $750 million lost. If their net worth is what they claim it should be easy for them to make it right for the customers who trusted their claims of guaranteed return.

This is is why people use a LLC. to protect personal wealth if the business fails.

It doesn't protect your reputation though.

> doesn't protect your reputation though

We’re in a relatively shameless era, with daring and conviction confused with foolish recklessness, and crypto exemplifies that.

If the Winkelvoss twins came back with an offering I’m sure it’d have buyers. This isn’t because they’re dumb, but because that’s where we are in the business cycle. (And they’d probably make money until the punch bowl is yanked.)

How much you wanna bet that "in kind" will not reflect the runup in BTC over the last few months?

I'll bet you, as that's what 'in kind' means.

I genuinely don’t remember either of their first names and I find it mildly amusing that I can read a story focused entirely on them and still not learn that information.

lol. funny because it's true

All I remember is that they’re 6’5” 220 and there’s two of them.

Combined or each?

When they are standing on the other ones shoulders.

When they are standing on Zuckerberg’s shoulders.

They're just three billionaires in a trenchcoat

Cameron and Tyler, just don’t ask me which is which.

Ha, I guess my vague hint of a memory was close. I was thinking Cameron and Taylor.

Winklevii? I think that's all I remember from that Zuck movie.

Castor and Pollux, if I recall correctly.

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