Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the brothers behind Gemini Exchange, are pushing the crypto industry to police itself. The pair announced a framework for the Virtual Commodity Association, a nonprofit t
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the brothers behind Gemini Exchange, are pushing the crypto industry to police itself. The pair announced a framework for the Virtual Commodity Association, a nonprofit that would oversee the U.S. digital currency market and work alongside regulators at the CFTC and SEC. The organization aims to promote financially sound and innovation-driven virtual commodity markets while delivering transparency.
The VCA would set standards for platforms, over-the-counter firms, and other trading venues that serve American customers. Members would be required to follow rules related to cybersecurity, surveillance, information sharing, regulatory cooperation, and transparency. Platforms that breach these rules face sanctions.
The twins framed the proposal as a maturation step for crypto. "The promise of virtual commodities and their impact on the future will be profound – but individuals and institutions need to feel safe and secure when transacting," they wrote. "We believe a thoughtful SRO framework that provides a virtual commodity regulatory program for the virtual commodity industry is the next logical step in the maturation of this market."
Brian Quintenz, the CFTC's Republican commissioner, endorsed the plan. "I congratulate Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss on their energetic leadership and thoughtful approach in outlining a virtual commodity self-regulatory organisation (SRO) concept," Quintenz said in a statement. He called the most effective SRO one that could "discover, reveal, and punish wrongdoing" to "add the most integrity to these markets." He urged Gemini or other market participants to "be aggressive in promoting these qualities within any SRO construct."
The announcement comes as Gemini plans expansion for 2018. The exchange currently offers ethereum and wants to add bitcoin cash and litecoin. Cboe, which has partnered with Gemini, signaled it would offer futures contracts on other cryptocurrencies, though it hasn't adopted ethereum yet.
Gemini's expansion to bitcoin cash and litecoin would put it against Coinbase, the dominant U.S. exchange.
When Coinbase adds tokens, their prices rise. Gemini's move into bitcoin cash and litecoin could produce the same effect for those tokens.
