Gemini from the Winklevoss twins expands in Seattle, despite industry turmoil

Gemini, the crypto exchange founded by the Winklevoss twins, is expanding in Seattle, planning to hire as many as 100 more people. Thus, plans for growth despite industry turmoil resulting from the collapse of FTX. 

Winklevoss twins expand Gemini with a hub in Seattle

Renowned crypto-exchange Gemini, co-founded by the Winklevoss twins, announced its growth plans in one of the most turbulent weeks in crypto history, stating that it plans to hire new employees at its Seattle hub. 

Apparently, while FTX seems to have collapsed causing even the collapse of its FTT token and pulling down the entire industry, Bitcoin (BTC) included, on the other hand, the Winklevosses are focusing on expansion. 

Indeed, Gemini said it is hiring about 100 new employees in the Seattle area for roles ranging from product to engineering. The company’s office in downtown Bellevue, Wash. currently has 28 employees.

The crypto exchange has reportedly already hired some Seattle tech veterans to bolster its management ranks, including former Amazon Web Services (AWS) general manager Pravjit Tiwana, former AWS engineer Jorge Peixoto Vasquez, and former Walmart executive Ajay Jaganathan.

Gemini is currently the 11th largest cryptocurrency exchange platform by volume. It is headquartered in New York and operates in more than 65 countries. 

The collapse of FTX: Sam Bankman-Fried was a political donor to Stabenow-Boozman

Another factor affecting FTX is that its CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who has been silent on social media for days, was a strong political donor in the 2022 midterm elections. 

Specifically, it has emerged that he had also been lobbying heavily in Congress to support a bipartisan bill. 

This was the proposal sponsored by Senate Agriculture Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), which would have given the CFTC oversight of cryptocurrency brokers and trading platforms.

This Stabenow-Boozman bill had already infuriated advocates of decentralized trading and payment systems that mimic a centralized exchange or broker. 

Indeed, this bill could wipe out decentralized finance startups, while instead leaving centralized cryptocurrency platforms like FTX firmly entrenched.

Of course, the collapse of FTX is backfiring politically, as Stabenow herself reportedly stated:

“It is time for Congress to act. The Committee, remains committed to advancing the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act to bring necessary safeguards to the digital commodities market.”

Reactions of crypto-exchanges to the collapse of FTX

While Gemini of the Winklevoss twins responded to the week of FTX’s collapse with a strategy to expand its workforce in Seattle, other crypto-exchanges, such as Bitget and Binance, have instead worked to directly help FTX traders. 

Bitget, for example, has established the “Builders Fund,” a $5 million fund to help FTX partners who have suffered losses. 

Binance is also acting in the same way, setting up a recovery fund on Binance Labs for those who are in trouble due to FTX.