6 ms·

Winklevoss Twins' Startup Gemini Will Pay Burned Customers $1B

74 points by kelt 3y ago

napierzaza 3y ago
[dead]
skywhopper 3y ago
Good! I always found it hilarious when the Winklevoss twins were raging on Twitter trying to shift the blame for the $750 million lost. If their net worth is what they claim it should be easy for them to make it right for the customers who trusted their claims of guaranteed return.
- paulpauper 3y ago
  This is is why people use a LLC. to protect personal wealth if the business fails.
  - wmf 3y ago
    It doesn't protect your reputation though.
    - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
      > doesn't protect your reputation though We’re in a relatively shameless era, with daring and conviction confused with foolish recklessness, and crypto exemplifies that. If the Winkelvoss twins came back with an offering I’m sure it’d have buyers. This isn’t because they’re dumb, but because that’s where we are in the business cycle. (And they’d probably make money until the punch bowl is yanked.)
neom 3y ago
[flagged]
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
sulam 3y ago
How much you wanna bet that "in kind" will not reflect the runup in BTC over the last few months?
- bottlepalm 3y ago
  I'll bet you, as that's what 'in kind' means.
bandyaboot 3y ago
I genuinely don’t remember either of their first names and I find it mildly amusing that I can read a story focused entirely on them and still not learn that information.
- lasean 3y ago
  lol. funny because it's true
- lotsoweiners 3y ago
  All I remember is that they’re 6’5” 220 and there’s two of them.
  - justusthane 3y ago
    Combined or each?
    - pplante 3y ago
      When they are standing on the other ones shoulders.
      - voisin 3y ago
        When they are standing on Zuckerberg’s shoulders.
        nicbou 3y ago
        They're just three billionaires in a trenchcoat
- reactordev 3y ago
  Cameron and Tyler, just don’t ask me which is which.
  - bandyaboot 3y ago
iab 3y ago
[flagged]
kelt 3y ago
Genuinely surprise this was the outcome, I had some balances in the Earn program under redemption since Jan 2023, been a long wait
senkora 3y ago
The draw of Gemini was always that it was a New York-regulated crypto exchange that presented as similar to traditional exchanges. For institutional traders, they even provide a standard FIX API over cross-connect in the NY5 data center in New Jersey. This is something that institutions understand how to connect to and work with. (In contrast, most crypto exchanges have/had highly bespoke systems of questionable quality) https://docs.gemini.com/fix-marketdata/ https://docs.gemini.com/fix-marketdata/ So the Gemini Earn thing has always confused me. If your entire shtick is legitimacy and being subject to competent regulation, then why would you release a product like that? I guess I’ll have to attribute it to the reality-distortion field of the crypto hype. They must have actually believed that either 1) the product was sound or 2) they would avoid the fallout when it exploded.
- I_Am_Nous 3y ago
  Perhaps it was a case of middle ground - they believed they had enough runway to make an exit before serious fallout because they believed the product would attract enough gains to pay out to Earn users. The market was revealed to be very "smoke and mirrors" so whether Earn was going to last long or not, it was built during a bubble cycle and didn't survive the correction.
- wmf 3y ago
  I suspect they weren't making any money because there's no profit in legitimate crypto trading so in desperation they branched out.
- CityOfThrowaway 3y ago
  The best explanation I have is that during 2021 the US government looked pretty weak and a lot of companies forgot laws exist.
  - 15457345234 3y ago
    Definitely a whole lot of very weird things happened during the pandemic that people are going to have a very hard time explaining when questioned. And they will be questioned.
LuciBb 3y ago
[dead]
slavetologic 3y ago
[flagged]
- paulpauper 3y ago
  lol it happens every time BTC goes up a bit
cj 3y ago
[flagged]
- godzillabrennus 3y ago
  You can incorporate a business in a more friendly jurisdiction to purchase these assets.
- Grazester 3y ago
  Genuine question, what's wrong with Coinbase?
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- rewtraw 3y ago
  if it’s just exposure you are looking for, you can buy any of the ETFs in your brokerage, but sadly there is no way to send the actual BTC to a wallet.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
tempestn 3y ago
> Gemini said it was “pleased to announce that we have finally reached a settlement in principle with Genesis and other creditors in the Genesis Bankruptcy that will, if approved by the Bankruptcy Court, result in all Earn users receiving 100% of their digital assets back in kind.” The in kind bit is interesting. What are the odds that these assets have dropped in value over the period they've been in limbo?
- wmf 3y ago
  The assets (mostly BTC and ETH) have risen in value.

74 points by kelt 3y ago

[dead]

Good! I always found it hilarious when the Winklevoss twins were raging on Twitter trying to shift the blame for the $750 million lost. If their net worth is what they claim it should be easy for them to make it right for the customers who trusted their claims of guaranteed return.

paulpauper 3y ago
This is is why people use a LLC. to protect personal wealth if the business fails.
- wmf 3y ago
  It doesn't protect your reputation though.
  - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
    > doesn't protect your reputation though We’re in a relatively shameless era, with daring and conviction confused with foolish recklessness, and crypto exemplifies that. If the Winkelvoss twins came back with an offering I’m sure it’d have buyers. This isn’t because they’re dumb, but because that’s where we are in the business cycle. (And they’d probably make money until the punch bowl is yanked.)

neom 3y ago

[flagged]

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

sulam 3y ago

How much you wanna bet that "in kind" will not reflect the runup in BTC over the last few months?

bottlepalm 3y ago
I'll bet you, as that's what 'in kind' means.

bandyaboot 3y ago

I genuinely don’t remember either of their first names and I find it mildly amusing that I can read a story focused entirely on them and still not learn that information.

lasean 3y ago
lol. funny because it's true
lotsoweiners 3y ago
All I remember is that they’re 6’5” 220 and there’s two of them.
- justusthane 3y ago
  Combined or each?
  - pplante 3y ago
    When they are standing on the other ones shoulders.
    - voisin 3y ago
      When they are standing on Zuckerberg’s shoulders.
      - nicbou 3y ago
        They're just three billionaires in a trenchcoat
reactordev 3y ago
Cameron and Tyler, just don’t ask me which is which.
- bandyaboot 3y ago

iab 3y ago

[flagged]

kelt 3y ago

Genuinely surprise this was the outcome, I had some balances in the Earn program under redemption since Jan 2023, been a long wait

senkora 3y ago

The draw of Gemini was always that it was a New York-regulated crypto exchange that presented as similar to traditional exchanges. For institutional traders, they even provide a standard FIX API over cross-connect in the NY5 data center in New Jersey. This is something that institutions understand how to connect to and work with. (In contrast, most crypto exchanges have/had highly bespoke systems of questionable quality) https://docs.gemini.com/fix-marketdata/ https://docs.gemini.com/fix-marketdata/ So the Gemini Earn thing has always confused me. If your entire shtick is legitimacy and being subject to competent regulation, then why would you release a product like that? I guess I’ll have to attribute it to the reality-distortion field of the crypto hype. They must have actually believed that either 1) the product was sound or 2) they would avoid the fallout when it exploded.

I_Am_Nous 3y ago
Perhaps it was a case of middle ground - they believed they had enough runway to make an exit before serious fallout because they believed the product would attract enough gains to pay out to Earn users. The market was revealed to be very "smoke and mirrors" so whether Earn was going to last long or not, it was built during a bubble cycle and didn't survive the correction.
wmf 3y ago
I suspect they weren't making any money because there's no profit in legitimate crypto trading so in desperation they branched out.
CityOfThrowaway 3y ago
The best explanation I have is that during 2021 the US government looked pretty weak and a lot of companies forgot laws exist.
- 15457345234 3y ago
  Definitely a whole lot of very weird things happened during the pandemic that people are going to have a very hard time explaining when questioned. And they will be questioned.

LuciBb 3y ago

[dead]

slavetologic 3y ago

[flagged]

paulpauper 3y ago
lol it happens every time BTC goes up a bit

cj 3y ago

[flagged]

godzillabrennus 3y ago
You can incorporate a business in a more friendly jurisdiction to purchase these assets.
Grazester 3y ago
Genuine question, what's wrong with Coinbase?
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
rewtraw 3y ago
if it’s just exposure you are looking for, you can buy any of the ETFs in your brokerage, but sadly there is no way to send the actual BTC to a wallet.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

tempestn 3y ago

> Gemini said it was “pleased to announce that we have finally reached a settlement in principle with Genesis and other creditors in the Genesis Bankruptcy that will, if approved by the Bankruptcy Court, result in all Earn users receiving 100% of their digital assets back in kind.” The in kind bit is interesting. What are the odds that these assets have dropped in value over the period they've been in limbo?

wmf 3y ago
The assets (mostly BTC and ETH) have risen in value.