Gemini Raises $400M to Bring Valuation Over $7B

The seven-year-old crypto exchange was founded by twin brothers and early Bitcoin investors, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.

article-image

Gemini, in New York; Source: Shutterstock

share

key takeaways

  • The round was led by Morgan Creek Digital with participation from DeFi firm ParaFi Capital
  • This year has proven to be the strongest year for crypto capital, with $15 billion in global blockchain funding during the first nine months of 2021, up 384% vs. the entirety of 2020

Crypto exchange Gemini has raised $400 million in funding to bring its valuation to about $7.1 billion, according to the company.

Morgan Creek Digital led Gemini’s first-ever round of outside funding with participation from 10T, ParaFi, Newflow Partners, Marcy Venture Partners, and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, among others, according to the press release.

Gemini and Morgan Creek Capital did not respond to immediate requests for comment by Blockworks. ParaFi Capital, when reached by Blockworks, declined to comment.

“We are leading the first outside investment in Gemini because of our shared conviction in crypto and belief in the company that Cameron and Tyler are building,” said Sachin Jaitly, General Partner of Morgan Creek Digital, in a press release announcing the funding. “Their vision for the role of crypto in redesigning money, the financial system, art, and the Internet, and their track record of incubating and scaling innovative technologies, gives us confidence in Gemini’s ability to continue to be an industry leader.” 

The seven-year-old company was founded by twin brothers and early Bitcoin investors, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. Gemini offers services to trade over 50 cryptocurrencies, earn up to 8.05% APY on about 40 different tokens and get up to 3% on crypto rewards through its credit card.

At the end of August, the company wrote that its customers were earning interest on over $3 billion in loans through its Gemini Earn product. 

The brothers are expected to keep 75% ownership of Gemini after the capital raise, increasing their total net wealth 75% from $6 billion in April to $10.5 billion today.

As bitcoin’s spot price hit a new all-time high on November 10 around $69,000, companies and investors alike are taking advantage of current market conditions by pumping tons of capital into the crypto space. 
This year has proven to be the strongest year for crypto capital, with $15 billion in global blockchain funding during the first nine months of 2021, up 384% vs the entirety of 2020, CB Insights’ blockchain report for Q3 2021 showed.

This story was updated on November 18, 2021, at 5:10 pm ET.


Get the day’s top crypto news and insights delivered to your inbox every evening. Subscribe to Blockworks’ free newsletter now.


Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Unlocked by Template.jpg

Research

The BitcoinOS team is the first to have developed and posted a ZK-compressed proof on the Bitcoin network. Other proof verification efforts have been limited to the Signet or testnet deployments. Their work has resulted in the development of BitSNARK, a software library for ZK-compressed fraud proofs on the Bitcoin network. The project aims to provide a horizontal scaling solution, offering a one-stop shop for teams interested in developing a rollup on Bitcoin. This approach shares similarities with the horizontal tech stack scaling in other ecosystems like Cosmos and Optimism, particularly in its focus on simplified verification, bridging standards, and lightweight interoperability.

/

article-image

A16z’s State of Crypto report shows that DeFi has the largest number of daily active addresses, with stablecoins following closely behind

article-image

G2 is delivering real-world performance breakthroughs at 50-100 Mgas/s, Conduit says

article-image

World Liberty Financial’s token sale debuted just as an absurd AI-fueled memecoin captured crypto’s attention

article-image

Coinbase hired History Associates in 2023 to assist in retrieving records from the SEC and FDIC

article-image

Hours after pledging to support Black men’s rights to safely invest in crypto, VP Harris’s Monday night speech mentioned blockchain zero times