logo-loader

Winklevoss twins looking at London as crypto alternative to 'hostile' US

Published: 11:46 24 May 2023 BST

Bitcoin
SEC has clamped down hard on crypto

Bitcoin billionaires Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are mulling setting up a second headquarters for their Gemini exchange in the UK to avoid what they say is a hostile climate for crypto in the US.

Famous for once suing Mark Zuckerburg over claims he stole the idea for Facebook from them, the twins reportedly met with the FCA this week to discuss the proposal and also look at potential locations for a base in London.

Gemini is one of a raft of crypto firms currently butting heads with US financial regulator the SEC over operating in the country following the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange.

“There are so many headwinds right now in the US it’s hard to get anything done there. And so in order to keep building our business and invest in hiring, we have to look elsewhere,” Cameron Winklevoss told the Telegraph.

“And the UK is a great market to consider that. There’s a point in the future where we have a larger headcount outside of the US than in the US, and there’s probably a jurisdiction or country that ... maybe is larger than the US. 

“We’re not leaving the US, we’re going to continue to fight the good fight there. But we also understand that you can vote with your feet, and that’s our right and we will do that when faced with a hostile environment.”

The twins, who set up Gemini in 2015 after an early investment in Bitcoin reaped huge rewards, added they were not just looking at the UK, however.

Ireland, Switzerland, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Singapore and Hong Kong are all under consideration, they said.

Gemini became embroiled in the FTX collapse year when Genesis, a company that had partnered with in a bitcoin scheme known as Earn, went into bankruptcy owing the Winklevoss group US$900mln.

A recent report suggested Gemini is also preparing a claim against Genesis owner Digital Currency Group for the return of US$1.1bn of digital assets that it says belong to 200,000 participants in the Earn scheme.

Caledonia Mining tackles 2023 challenges with optimism for 2024 as it...

Caledonia Mining Corporation PLC (AIM:CMCL, NYSE-A:CMCL) chief executive Mark Learmonth tells Proactive's Stephen Gunnion the company faced a challenging 2023, primarily due to poor production in the first half of the year at its core asset, the Blanket Mine in Zimbabwe, and an underperformance...

1 hour, 38 minutes ago