Winklevoss Twins Get Closer To Launching Their Bitcoin Exchange

An anonymous reader writes: Reuters has an update on the Winklevoss twins plan to launch a regulated Bitcoin exchange called Gemini. The two have filed a New York trust application necessary for them to launch their Gemini bitcoin exchange. If approved, the exchange would be able to accept deposits, and issue loans. The twins say they want to make digital currency mainstream in the United States.

Comments

Bitcoin only?

[ArcadeMan]

Will they only deal with Bitcoin or will they also accept other crypto-currencies such as Litecoin, Dashcoin and Dogecoin?

Re:Bitcoin only?

[ArcadeMan]

Stupid auto-complete... you make an error once and the stupid thing still uses that mistake months later...

For the exchange URL, I meant https://www.cryptsy.com/

Re: Bitcoin only?

[digsbo]

It's a benefit of positive karma for people who don't post AC (people posting registered with neutral karma only get +1). I turned mine off voluntarily and just use the +1.

Re: Bitcoin only?

[ArcadeMan]

It's called karma.

The way I understand it, when you get mostly up-modded your karma goes up and you get an automatic +1, on top of the regular +1. Look around, I'm not the only one who posts at "Score: 2" by default either.

If you're an asshole/idiot/troll/etc, your posts get down-modded, your karma goes down and you first lose the extra +1, then the regular +1, then you go down to posting at -1 by default (I think?).

Re:Bitcoin only?

[DanielRavenNest]

Right. I guess that's why the largest bank in France and the largest mutual fund operator in the US are testing out bitcoin/cryptocoins:

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/frenc...

http://i.imgur.com/yfKkhRu.png

Oh, and the NASDAQ is already using blockchain technology for their private market:

http://money.cnn.com/2015/05/1...

Re: Bitcoin only?

[Bing Tsher E]

I almost always turn my +1 off (it's a default) because I feel like if my comments are good enough, someone will mark them up. It also helps keep one's head above water if one wants to be able to post controversial opinions without worrying about karma.

Re: Bitcoin only?

[turning in circles]

Yeah, I get +2 and I didn't realize it was automatic and I thought I had just become really insightful and everyone loved my posts. LOL.Thanks for letting me know I can turn it down.

Re: Bitcoin only?

[turning in circles]

There we go, turned it down.

Re:Bitcoin only?

[slashmydots]

Will they only deal with Bitcoin or will they also accept other crypto-currencies such as Litecoin, Dashcoin and Dogecoin?

BTC-E added certain coins like Name, Nova, PPC, and those stuck but there were at least 3 others that were added then removed due to a lack of interest from customers. Bots just sync up the alts like a Bitcoin metacurrency and they became pointless.

Re: Bitcoin only?

[wonkey_monkey]

Yes, but there are many many more stories about asshole idiot trolls being maligned as asshole idiot trolls.

But those stories are boring so no-one tells them.

Re:Bitcoin only?

[psyclone]

Shift+Delete when selecting the incorrect entry in nearly every autocomplete dropdown will remove that entry.

Re: Bitcoin only?

[KGIII]

This... But I really do not care about /. karma (somehow I have excellent karma though I have been on-topic twice and only a few times not written a novella). Worse? I do not even moderate. I used to never moderate down but now I do not moderate up either. I just let the points sit idle.

What they really said

[Anonymous Coward]

No, what they said is they see digital currency expanding and want to be the ones on control.

They hope REAL money is used to buy bitcoins , they can then use that real money to get interest or buy property, the digital money...eh not so much, they certainly won't be paying interest and I am sure there will be fees.

Re:What they really said

[fustakrakich]

Yep, I think I'll keep my government REALcoins... If Bitcoin becomes as safe as US Savings Bonds, I might take a look.

Re:What they really said

[digsbo]

What is the real estimated return on 10 year notes held to maturity right now?

Re:What they really said

[willworkforbeer]

I think the point is the bonds guarantee you will get all your invested dollars 1:1 in 10 years (plus some interest). That is an important guarantee as it makes planning possible with a stable currency.

And the comment above appears to be pointing out that Crypto Currencies cannot make that promise, the values flux wildly at times at may go to zero.
Maybe the Winkies can work on that.

Re:What they really said

[digsbo]

Yeah, if you follow conventional wisdom. Which works, until it doesn't. Most likely you're guaranteed to lose purchasing value on a ten year note right now with a yield of 2.264%. Unless you really think inflation is going to be below that over the same time span. The US can't pay its debts without money printing. Between money printing and default, neither makes a 10 year note a great investment at this time. And the dollar won't be the world reserve currency forever.

Re:What they really said

[DanielRavenNest]

10 year treasuries have averaged ~2.5% over the last 5 years:

http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/US...

Median CPI, before fiddling, has average about 2% over the last 5 years

So over that period, the estimated real return is 0.5%

Re:What they really said

[blue trane]

Your type has been saying the same thing for decades, centuries: inflation will explode! The Swiss franc will become the world's reserve currency! Except the dollar's stronger now, even after the Fed created trillions upon trillions out of thin air. And the Swiss are charging negative interest rates precisely because they don't want to be the reserve currency. When you become the world's reserve currency you lose control over the money supply. The Fed for example can't control the supply of Eurodollars.

The world's capital supplies are getting very close to a quadrillion US dollars. The Fed can create enough money to pay off the US debt, and it will be such a minute fraction of the total money supply that it won't cause a blip on inflation.

In conclusion, you don't know jack about what you're talking about, and your ilk have been predicting imminent doom and gloom for the US dollar because of the national debt since the very first US administration. It's like Chicken Little screaming about the sky falling. No one's paying attention anymore.

Re:What they really said

[blue trane]

T-bills are like the pea in a shell game, where the shells are money created out of the thin, hot air of bankers' IOUs to each other. In other words T-bills are the gold of the modern world monetary system.

Re:What they really said

[TeknoHog]

Ah, REAL money. The kind that can be inflated willy-nilly by banks, and generally based on secrecy instead of math, open source and a public ledger.

Re:What they really said

[tomhath]

What they really said is that they bought a fortune in bitcoins before the pyramid collapsed and now they're trying to find some suckers to pump it back up.

Re:What they really said

[digsbo]

Except that gold has outperformed the DJIA since the end of the gold standard under Nixon (Aug 1971), so it's not as though people of my "ilk" are without basis in our consistent criticism of fiat currency systems and inflation.

Re:What they really said

[Jack Griffin]

And Apple shares have outperformed Gold, so by this logic, the world should switch to using Apple shares as currency?

Re:What they really said

[Anonymous Coward]

You seem to have some interesting things to say, but you undermine yourself by using phrases like "your type" and "your ilk" and "Chicken Little screaming." Calm down and write less confrontationally, and people will take you more seriously.

Re:What they really said

[donscarletti]

And the dollar won't be the world reserve currency forever.

I think you can look at anything and say that it will not be the case forever and be guaranteed to be right. However, the USD, despite its issues, is looking strong for the next few decades because the other currencies have even bigger issues than the greenback.

The Euro's speculative value is based heavily on the strength of the union, rather than the strength of the large economies backing it. No matter how strong and stable Germany and France may be, they can never wholly support the Euro's worth. Even with a strong Italy and Spain, the Euro would still be prone to shocks and fears. The Euro is held as a reserve currency, but not with the same gusto as it was 5 years ago.

Chinese Yuan RMB, is first and foremost, a controlled currency. Currency exchanges in China are limited by law and complicated to perform, leading it to have a lower volume of trade and thus lower fluidity on the foreign market than Australian/Canadian Dollars, Swiss Franks and Mexican Pesos. Beyond that, it exists to serve Chinese monetary policy, rather than American monetary policy largely existing to serve the Dollar, leading to a lot of exposure to holders of large amounts of it.

The Japanese Yen is used as a reserve currency because of its low inflation. But because of its low inflation, Japan is not growing, despite the 0.1% interest rate they have had for almost a decade now, which makes it unlikely to eclipse anyone anytime soon.

Australian dollars, Swiss Franks and Canadian Dollars, each are underpinned by economies too small and too focused on particular sectors. The only reason AUD and CHF are traded so much is that they move rapidly in a predicable direction due to certain economic conditions. It makes them suitable for a hedge in currency baskets, but not to hold the bulk of value. Besides, its not certain that there is enough of these currencies in circulation to make holding the world's reserves in it practical. Possibly Australia and Canada are just large enough to endure foreign banks either hording their currencies or creating money on paper by lending the another currency against debts in their own, but Switzerland with its half trillion GDP would surely consider this as an act of sabotage.

So what does that leave beyond USD? Pound Stirling, which is in fact a commonly held reserve currency. But the UK does not have the natural resources or the population for rapid growth, so I doubt it will overtake the US.

So what is left? Brazil, Russia and India? Well, the Ruble is a basket case, the Real has 8.5% inflation and the Rupee is in deflation at the moment, leading to concerns about money supply.

I think the USD could get a lot worse before people start thinking about getting rid of it.

Re:What they really said

[digsbo]

I think the USD could get a lot worse before people start thinking about getting rid of it.

That's certainly true. And it's probably very similar to what some Brits said in early 1900s, when the Pound was the global reserve currency. But people will want an alternative, and a number of cryptocurrencies might reasonably be held as a hedge against dollar decline.

Re:What they really said

[david_thornley]

Yup. The pound lost a lot of value after Britain fought two extremely expensive world wars in which they sold off a very large amount of accumulated capital to finance the wars.

Re:What they really said

[squiggleslash]

Gold "outperforming" (rising in price faster than) an index based on real world valuations would seem, to me, to be evidence gold is a poor (actually atrocious) substitute for a well managed fiat currency.

Re:What they really said

[digsbo]

I think you misunderstand the chart. It's the valuation in dollars. Note the effects of the market bubble/crash.

The only problem?

[ravenspear]

They have consulted a coder on the idea and he is currently working on the implementation.

It remains to be seen how this will turn out.

Re:The only problem?

[trabby]

I see what you did there lol

Hahahaha

[Anonymous Coward]

I read this as "Rich douchebags find way to be bigger douchebags while pissing on money and everyone who isn't rich"

Re:I wish I bought btc when it was $1

[dugancent]

I see it the other way, wait a few months (maybe a year) and it will be down to a dollar again.

Re:I wish I bought btc when it was $1

[ArcadeMan]

Or it will be back up to one thousand dollars again.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re: Worst of both worlds

[Hyperhaplo]

A Bitcoin is worth its weight in gold.

Re:I wish I bought btc when it was $1

[dugancent]

Doubtful. That scam has sailed.

Re:The Winklevoss Twins have missed the boat

[ArcadeMan]

Apple and Google are having trouble even getting people to adopt Apple Pay and Google Wallet...

Because in most developed countries, people have been using either debit cards or PayPass-enabled credit cards for years. We don't see the point in Apple Pay/Google Wallet.

Riiiiiight

[JustAnotherOldGuy]

Oh yeah, who wouldn't trust these two slippery guys? Please, take my money!

In other news,

[PopeRatzo]

Sylvester the Cat has announced that he's opening a shelter for homeless canaries.

Re:In other news,

[umghhh]

Your statement would perfectly fit as a summary. Pity we do not have a possibility to mod one post into summary. Could be helpful not only in this case.

Re:In other news,

[hodet]

Go submit this on Fark. Easy green light.

Re:In other news,

[KGIII]

I thought the same thing. Get out of my head! Literally - word for word and in that same order. I think I may have included "it is" in my thinking but it parses exactly the same and is not trivial for me to verify. How very strange.

Re:The Winklevoss Twins have missed the boat

[TeknoHog]

I can't imagine the twins seriously think that Bitcoin is going to go mainstream at this point in time. If anything, Bitcoin is fading from public view.

Please tell this to all these investors. I'm sure you know something they don't.

Re:The Winklevoss Twins have missed the boat

[Bing Tsher E]

Apple Pay and Google Wallet enable you to show off your high end smart phone to the minimum wage cashier when you make your purchases.

What could be more important than that?

Re:I wish I bought btc when it was $1

[Bing Tsher E]

If they want people to use it as a currency, the 'value' of it has to stop changing.

They are waiting...

[kenh]

...for someone else to open a bitcoin exchange first, so they can claim they stole their idea.

(Shrug) IÂll believe it when I see it.

[dpbsmith]

IÂve been reading "Winklevoss Twins close to launching bitcoin ETF" stories since mid-2013. It has always just about cleared the last regulatory hurdle and it is always going to launch in a month or two and it is always "still on track." Slashdot just seems to be an amplifier of the latest publicity blitz.

OK, fine. Maybe it will happen and maybe it won't. No particular reason I know to pay attention to it until it does.

Funniest thing I've read about it appeared in January, 2015: "We believe that anyone who believes that gold is an important asset to hold in their portfolio should seriously consider adding bitcoin to their portfolio. When we consider all of the qualities that make money money, Bitcoin when compared to gold matches or surpasses gold in every measure of money. This is why we and others call bitcoin 'gold 2.0' or 'digital gold,' Winklevoss explained in his email."

Sorry, I was confused. It isn't the ETF.

[dpbsmith]

Right. It's Gemini, the other bitcoin project of theirs. The one they say they is not distracting them from launching the COIN ETF.

Re:I wish I bought btc when it was $1

[TechyImmigrant]

If they want people to use it as a currency, the 'value' of it has to stop changing.

I've not noticed the Yen, Dollar, Pound, Euro or Renminbi stop changing value. Perhaps that's why no one uses them as currency.

Re: Worst of both worlds

[slashmydots]

Wow, I can't believe that comment was posted from all the way back in 2011. Seriously, Newegg takes bitcoins without a 3rd party and they're the 2nd largest online retailer in the US.

Re: Worst of both worlds

[pavon]

I seriously doubt that. I only have global sales number, not US specific, but there are many online retailers that are larger. Newegg had around $2.7 billion in revenue in 2013. The same year Amazon had $68 billion, Apple had $18 billion, Staples and Walmart both had around $10 billion in online sales. Sears (a company that every talks about as dieing) and QVC (yes the website for that crappy home marketing TV station) both had nearly $5 billion in revenue. Even among consumer electronics CDW and Best Buy had more online sales at over $3 billion each. And again, while these are global numbers, most of those companies are US based, with strong US sales.

Newegg is one of hundreds of online retailers of simular size. While it is a great company, it's adoption of bitcoin is by no means an indication that something has gone mainstream.

Source: http://www.wsj.com/news/intera...

Re:The Winklevoss Twins have missed the boat

[hodet]

Minimum wage cashiers already have high end smartphones.

Re:The Winklevoss Twins have missed the boat

[ThatsDrDangerToYou]

Alas, no mod points do I have...

Just to piss them off...

[kimgkimg]

... Zuckerberg should release his own version of the exchange before they go live.

Re:I wish I bought btc when it was $1

[KGIII]

I mined 48 of them when they first started coming out with the software to do it. It was easy then. I donated them to EFF some time back. They were worth a goodly sum by then. Hopefully they capitalized on it right away because the price went down not long after. I did not want to additional taxation, hassle, or association.

Re:what I want to know

[KGIII]

Assuming that neither is made of pork...

Re:The Winklevoss Twins have missed the boat

[tehcyder]

Minimum wage cashiers already have high end smartphones.

Oh well, it's back to dangling your Ferrari key ring in front of them then.