The famous Winklevoss twins, Tyler and Cameron, are about to enter the Bitcoin exchange arena with news Monday that their company Gemini Trust Company, LLC. has received proper legal approval to commence trading.

Plans for Gemini first emerged in January this year when it was dubbed a “NASDAQ for Bitcoin,” with the twins subsequently filing the paperwork to set up Gemini as a limited liability trust company in July; the advantages of registering with the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) in this company format is that a trust company has all the powers of a bank to take deposits and make loans, alongside certain fiduciary powers such as acting as an agent for governmental bodies.

The company said in a statement that it will open for trading this coming Thursday, at which point customers will be able to buy and sell Bitcoin for fiat currency.

Gemini will internally hold all Bitcoin deposits, with the majority being air-gapped (held offline) in a multi-signature, geographically-distributed cold storage system.

All fiat currency transferred to Gemini is being deposited in a New York State chartered bank, headquartered in midtown Manhattan, and will most importantly be eligible for Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) insurance.

“Meeting the high-water mark of banking compliance is no small task, especially for a startup, but we felt that doing so was crucial — Bitcoin is an island right now, and, if we are going to build a bridge to the financial mainland, then Gemini must look and feel as safe, secure and compliant as any other top tier financial institution in the world,” Cameron Winklevoss said in a post to the Gemini blog.

“This includes, among other things, creating a robust anti-money laundering (AML) program, strong internal controls and procedures, a comprehensive security program and maintaining significant capital reserves,” he went on.

Great for Bitcoin

The services that will be provided by Gemini will be held to a much higher standard of oversight and requirements in a similar way to how funds in a bank are controlled, versus a regular, everyday Bitcoin Exchange that may operate under a money transmitter license which is held to much lower standards.

And that’s great for Bitcoin.

What the appetite for a fully regulated Bitcoin exchange will be however we won’t find out until Gemini starts trading; potentially, and certainly what the Winklevoss’ are thinking is that given the security Gemini offers it will be able to attract more high-wealth individuals and companies to invest in Bitcoin going forward.

Gemini opens its doors for trading on October 8 at 9:30am.

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