When it comes to the crypto world, the Winklevoss twins aren’t taking any chances. The ambitious twins have already secured a plethora of crypto-related patents, and are forging new partnerships with regulators to become the top dog. The twins are even rumored to be looking into entering the British crypto market hot on the heels of Coinbase. Now, the twins are looking at making their platform even more attractive to crypto investors, hoping to cash in on insecurities in the wider crypto exchange business.
The Winklevoss twins and their Gemini exchange have secured insurance for digital assets held in its custodiol solution. This means that if Gemini ever gets hacked and someone runs off with a nice chunk of loot, insurance will cover most of the losses.
Huge Losses are Bad for Business
It appears that the Winklevoss twins have been watching events unfold in Japan and have learned a thing or two in the process. Recently Zaif was hacked and it lost over $60 million of investor’s money. In order to pay investors back, Zaif had to sell a majority share in the company and fire a number of key employees. Had Zaif been secured by an insurance plan, there is a good chance it wouldn’t have had to take such drastic measures. Following events like this, exchanges rarely come back on top form – just look at the Mt.Gox saga.
Leading, Best-in-Class Exchange
In order for Gemini to secure the custodial insurance from AON, they had to sell themselves as a leading, best-in-class exchange. Presumably, the definition of a leading, best-in-class exchange is fairly broad as – according to date from CoinMarketCap – the Gemini is currently 49th by 24-hour trade volumes. In order to meet this criterion, the other exchanges in its class must be fairly small and not particularly well established.
Protecting Investors
Gemini is securing patents and insurance in order to be able to protect investors using its platform to the best of its ability. The added cover and assurances it can provide to investors will certainly help give it a boost in terms of popularity within America. However, when it comes to popularity in America, Coinbase is steaming ahead and OKCoin has recently expanded its American operations – meaning times are getting tougher for the Winklevoss twins to gain traction.
The Winklevoss twins are certainly trying to push ahead and become one of the top crypto exchanges globally, but they still have a long way to go. Gemini is available in only a handful of countries, making it less popular with the wider crypto community. If they can resolve this, then custodial insurance will be a much bigger pull for crypto investors.
