Prominent cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, founded by the Winklevoss Twins Tyler and Cameron, has recently revealed through a press release it hired New York Stock Exchange’s (NYSE) former chief information officer (CIO) Robert Cornish.
Cornish was hired as the company’s chief technology officer, and is set to help it build up the cryptocurrency platform with institutional investors in mind, as the Winklevoss twins reportedly hope large hedge funds and other investors will get involved with the cryptocurrency space. In the release, Tyler Winklevoss stated:
Rob is a tremendous addition to our team. He will ensure that Gemini continues to deliver the best platform experience to our customers as possible and set the standards of excellence for the cryptocurrency industry as a whole.
According to skeptics, institutional investors may not enter the market as soon as believed, as they may be deterred by the performance of bitcoin, the flagship cryptocurrency. It saw its price plummet from a near $20,000 in mid-December all-time high to about $6,580 at press time. To Cameron Winklevoss, however, this performance doesn’t hinder the cryptocurrency industry’s progress.
Speaking to CNBC, Cameron Winklevoss revealed that his “belief and thesis” haven’t changed, and that day-to-day moves don’t dissuade him. In fact, Cameron argued he’s shutting out the noise and investing in Gemini, which currently trades bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ethereum, zcash and will soon add litecoin.
When asked about a drop in trading volume in the bitcoin futures market, Winklevoss stated:
It’s been arguably a slower couple of months in terms of trading, but at Gemini it’s been one of the busiest months of our existence as we scale and build. Certainly there’s going to be people in the market that lose their interest. That is what it is.
The Winklevoss twins are notable cryptocurrency bulls, who’ve earlier this year stated bitcoin has the potential to grow “30 to 40 times,” because of its potential to take a share of the gold market. The twins have also proposed a self-regulatory organization to police cryptocurrency trading.
Gemini notably hasn’t received New York’s BitLicense, which was recently granted to storage service Xapo and Jack Dorsey’s Square, but operates under a banking charter. Cornish himself has in the past worked at ISE Holdings, a securities exchange owned by Nasdaq, as chief information officer.
