Gemini, a crypto exchange owned by the Winklevoss twins, has appointed Dan Chen as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), setting the company up for a public offering.
“I’m thrilled to announce,” wrote Chen, “that I’ve joined Gemini as its Chief Financial Officer. I will be working alongside Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and the incredible team at Gemini to unlock the next era of personal, financial, and creative freedom”.
Gemini plans to start an Initial Public Offering (IPO) to raise more capital and benefit from increased scrutiny from the public markets. Chen will work alongside Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss as the CFO, most likely for the primary purpose of constructing the IPO.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Chen worked at Affirm, specializing in bank partnerships and capital markets. He also worked at MetLife Investments and Morgan Stanley.
Bloomberg recently reported that Gemini was looking into creating an IPO. The Winklevoss twins attended the White House crypto summit. They discussed regulatory changes, lamenting the draconian measures used by the previous administration and outlining changes that would promote the crypto industry rather than persecute entrepreneurs. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently dropped its legal suit against Gemini, one of many suits against crypto businesses, forming what has been described as a “war on crypto.”
Chen described the crypto industry as dynamic, pointing out Gemini’s key role in scaling Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. He said, “Crypto is the most dynamic sector in finance, and Gemini is at the forefront of this revolution—making it simple and secure to engage on the digital asset frontier.”
Cameron Winklevoss, at the White House summit, described the previous administration as hostile towards the crypto industry. Trump hosted the event, which included many representatives of the crypto sector.
“We never thought”, said Cameron Winklevoss, “that we’d be – get attacked the way we did in our backyard after trying to do the right thing for so many years and always trying to raise the bar with respect to regulation. So, it’s truly wonderful to see how things have changed and how the pendulum has swung back in the way that it has”.
Chen’s new role will be to create financial strategies to grow the company. Gemini exchange has been swamped with regulatory challenges, such as the SEC’s legal pursuit and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission charging $5 million through a settlement deal. The timing seems auspicious, with a new regulatory body, a new appointment of Dan Chen as CFO, and a more optimistic market, with institutional and retail traders taking a serious interest in cryptocurrency.
