Winklevoss twins announce launch of Bitcoin exchange Gemini

The Winklevoss twins, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, have announced that Gemini, their Bitcoin exchange, has opened its doors to both individual and institutional customers.

Making the announcement in a blog post, the twins added they had started sending out invite codes to those who requested it so that the requesters could create and fund their accounts in preparation for trading.

The blog post stated trading officially starts Thursday, October 8 at 9:30 AM EDT.

The brothers suggested Bitcoin users who have not requested an invite code to do so by clicking “Get Early Access” on the Gemini homepage.

The announcement of the launch comes immediately after Gemini announced it had been granted a license to operate as a chartered limited liability trust company by the New York State Department of Financial Services.

The Winklevoss twins first announced Gemini back in January.

In today’s blog post, the brothers wrote, “Some of you may be wondering what we’ve been up to since we first announced our plans for Gemini on January 23, 2015. That’s a great question — we have been hard at work building the four pillars of our business: 1) Product, 2) Security, 3) Licensing and 4) Compliance.”

They added, “So was it worth the wait? We think so. As a bitcoin exchange we don’t always have the ability to “fail fast” or the freedom to “hack” our way through product development, security or licensing. When you are dealing with money — especially other people’s money — you simply cannot assemble the rocket ship mid-flight.”

The twins wrote that for now, Gemini will be operating in 26 US states and the District of Columbia, though they plan to expand their coverage area quickly.

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