While it’s still widely regarded as being safer to hold one’s own funds than entrust them to an exchange, Gemini’s standards suggest it may be angled as more of an actual cryptocurrency custodian than other exchanges.
Cryptocurrency exchange and custodian Gemini, announced they’re expanding their business to Australia. Australian citizens can now download the Gemini Mobile App and use it to buy, sell, and store cryptocurrencies as are Bitcoin (BCH), Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) , Litecoin (LTC) and Zcash (ZEC). However, their own stablecoin Gemini dollar (GUSD) will not be supported in Australia, according to its website.
Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder and CEO at Gemini said that cryptocurrency is the future of money, and confirmed they are committed to building a bridge to that future in Australia.
He added:
“We are thrilled to continue expanding our global footprint and give Aussies a safe and trustworthy cryptocurrency experience. We founded Gemini to build trust in this nascent technology and we look forward to building that trust in Australia.”
Gemini was the first cryptocurrency exchange and custodian in the world that had managed to complete a SOC2 Type I examination and shown the highest levels of security compliance in shielding customer data and funds. Exactly that fact may help the exchange to gain its presence in Australia.
For now, the future doesn’t seem so much convenient. Gemini’s fees appear to be higher than on some already existing Australian exchanges (bear in mind that crypto exchanges in Australia are regulated). The lowest the transaction fee, as per their website, is 1.49%, and it then charges a spread – “convenience fee” of 0.5% on top of that.
Just for comparison, Australian exchanges as are CoinSpot and CoinJar that have more cryptocurrencies with fees around 0.1% to 1%.
Australian exchanges are required to be AUSTRAC-registered, and different cryptocurrencies may be subject to certain restrictions under ASIC regulations.
However, above mentioned SOC 2 Type 1 examination demonstrates a level of security compliance in protecting user data and funds and is a subject to the capital reserve requirements, cybersecurity requirements and banking compliance standards laid out by the New York Department of Financial Services, and New York banking law.
These protections benefit all Gemini customers in all parts of the world, meaning 49 states in the United States, as well as Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and the United Kingdom.
Earlier this week, the exchange said they were joining cybersecurity expert David Damato to their executive team as chief security officer. Damato joins Gemini with 20 years of experience in cybersecurity.
Tyler Winklevoss then said:
“Security is the bedrock of our culture, and Dave adds to that legacy. His depth of security knowledge and his experience defending global networks will be invaluable as we continue to build the market’s most secure cryptocurrency offering.”
Other co-founder, Cameron Winklevoss recently concluded that Gemini is open to working together with Facebook’s Libra as well. He said that he finds Libra a step toward the mass adoption of crypto and added that he is confident that “one day the world will not be able to live without crypto or imagine a world before it”.
Cameron Winklevoss is pretty sure in cryptospace becoming mainstream. As per his words, Facebook may be the first tech giant to trive a native cryptocurrency launch – but certainly won’t be the last:
“I think that internet companies have to have a crypto strategy, and I think a lot of them are thinking about their own coin projects. They’re probably watching Libra and Facebook to see how that fares as they develop it.”
He predicted that Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google will also follow:
“Amazon can probably get packages to literally any place in the world, even if the last mile is on a dirt bike or something […] very ironic, that the physical stuff we can move all around the world and we can’t get money to a lot of places around the world.”
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