When the world first got to know that Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss were bitcoin bulls, the crypto that started it was experiencing a horrible day, having dropped by 60%, according to 2013 New York Times report.
Today, Bitcoin has lost 80% of its total value, from $19,000 to about $3,500 today. Tyler and Cameron now recruit more people than before and they just moved to some new Park Avenue offices.
The brothers are launching their first mobile app, rather than quitting after several failed attempts to obtain a bitcoin ETF license from the SEC.
While the cryptocurrency industry is experiencing a lot, Cameron Winklevoss said “we can weather this downturn.”
According to the brothers, the mobile application is part of what they have been working on for months. The mobile app enables new users adopt know-your-customer proceedings, this include facial recognition and some biometric proofs utilizing the mobile device camera.
Despite the decline in the overall market cap, which was $817 billion in January 2018, and now at $110 billion today, the brothers seem not to be discouraged, they believe that the underlying blockchain technology will lay the foundation for a less-centralized financial infrastructure.
According to CoinDesk report, the brothers had a “material” stake in ether. The launch of this mobile app may appear to be a goal that should have been accomplished for a while, given that Kraken launched its mobile app in September 2014 and Coinbase in October 2013. So far, Gemini has focused on building out a financial infrastructure, focusing on institutions first.
Gemini won its charter from the NYDFS in October 2015, while Coinbase recently received its banking charter in October 2018, while Kraken still has no charter.
Gemini’s CEO, Tyler Winklevoss said: “You’re going to see that the product story and the individual customer narrative is going to be a bigger part of 2019.” Gemini refused to disclose customer numbers but will give an idea of growth. Over the past year, the company has doubled in size.
Cameron said that: “While some capital might be leaving the market, the human capital is really impressive, and it’s long-term capital. People don’t make decisions to enter crypto on a month-to-month or price-to-price basis.”
