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OKEx adding more swaps to its real-time settlement function that went live on Dec. 29, 2020.

Tyler and Cameron Winkelvoss are exploring a stock market debut for crypto exchange Gemini, according to a report by Bloomberg News. 

In an interview with Bloomberg, the twins–who founded the exchange in 2013—said that going public is one option they are currently exploring for the firm. 

“We are watching the market and we are also having internal discussions on whether it makes sense for us at this point in time,” Cameron Winklevoss, co-founder of Gemini, said. 

Gemini would join a growing list of crypto firms with ambitions to tap into the public markets. Some firms—including Bakkt and Coinbase—are further along in their journey. Bakkt announced at the beginning of the week that it would go public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition vehicle.

Coinbase filed a confidential S-1 to go public at the end of last year. 

Gemini is experiencing a period of growth in line with the broader crypto market. On January 12, the firm announced it surpassed $10 billion in assets under custody. 

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

A UK IT engineer who mistakenly threw away a hard drive with around £210 million ($288 million) of bitcoin on it is applying to the local government to search wasteland for the device. Read more: UK Treasury Calls for Feedback on Approach to Cryptocurrency and Stablecoin Regulation

Quick Take

• Polkadot is one of the more anticipated Proof-of-Stake networks and smart contract challengers to Ethereum, the most prevalent dapp platform today
• From September-November 2020, roughly 19% of DeFi projects that received venture funding were building on Polkadot
• The Block has mapped out a total of 127 projects across sixteen different verticals that are currently developing on Polkadot’s ecosystem

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Quick Take

• Bakkt’s $2 billion valuation via SPAC a sign that private markets are being repriced; plus, thoughts on crypto’s first national chartered bank

This research piece is available to
members of The Block Genesis.
You can continue reading
this Genesis research on The Block.

Tandem Bank, one of the United Kingdom’s much-hyped crop of neo-banks, has filed annual results for 2019 that show mounting losses and warn the firm faces “material uncertainty” about its ability to remain in business.

The startup lost £18.9 million in the 12 months to December 31, 2019, up from £13.7 million the previous year. Tandem attributes the larger losses to investment in infrastructure and to having made provision for defaults on unsecured loans. 

Its income increased from £15.4m in 2018 to £24.8m the following year, driven primarily by growth in unsecured lending.

The accounts, which were filed January 11, 2021, were signed off by Tandem’s directors and auditors PwC in August of 2020. 

The report highlights the impact of the Covid-19 crisis and suggests it has made “going concern assessments more testing and judgemental”.

“Tandem is not isolated from this environment and faces the same issues with implications across future revenue generating activities, credit losses and ability to fundraise, which results in material uncertainty in the group’s ability to continue as a going concern,” the report continues.  

A similar warning in the annual accounts of Monzo, a rival digital bank, caused a stir in July.

A spokesperson for Tandem told The Block the material concern note is “prudent and appropriate given Tandem is still a loss-making business and no different to the statements you’ll see in the accounts of many other startups”.

“However, you’ll also notice the closure of a £60 million fundraising round in August 2020, and we’ve made a number of adjustments to our banking product portfolio. We’ve also demonstrated significant resilience through the Covid-19 pandemic, and we remain on track to hit profitability this year,” they continued.

Tandem closed a £60m raise in August 2020 while simultaneously announcing the acquisition of green finance firm Allium Lending Group. The move was part of a restructuring process that will see Tandem position itself as a clean energy-focused bank.

PwC wrote that Tandem would require additional capital injections within the next twelve months from the date it signed off on the accounts if the digital bank is to continue at its planned rate of growth.

“In order to meet future regulatory requirements and to continue in business as a going concern, the company will either have to moderate its rate of growth or raise further capital,” wrote PwC.

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

While a 31% rally to $50,000 in two weeks may be challenging to envision, it is far from impossible, given bitcoin’s prior rallies.

Crypto exchange and custodian Gemini has acquired fintech startup Blockrize to launch a credit card in the U.S. that would offer up to 3% rewards in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Gemini did not disclose the deal’s terms, but COO Noah Perlman told The Block that the company acquired Blockrize in the third quarter of 2020, and all four employees of the startup joined Gemini at the time.

Both teams are working together to launch the credit card later this year, and users in all 50 U.S. states will be able to earn crypto rewards by spending U.S. dollars.

“It’s a great way for customers to invest in crypto, get exposure to the asset class, and then be able to sort of get the gains almost like a passive investment, Perlman told The Block. “And then to the extent that there’s an increase in the value of those assets, that will accrue to them.”

Perlman said bitcoin is one of the best performing investments of the last decade and provides a hedge against inflation, so the card is going to a “compelling” product.

“Financial rewards are changing,” said Perlman. “Consumers are likely less eager to earn hotel points or airline miles, not just because of covid, but obviously because they’re consistently devalued and even cash back in some cases. One of the compelling aspects of crypto is the fact that it’s an inflationary hedge.”

It is not clear whether the card will be a Visa or a MasterCard offering, Perlman said those details would be announced “closer to launch.” Other information such as card fees and bonuses, if any, will also be released later this year. 

Gemini has opened up a waitlist for the card. Anyone can join the list, but once they get the card, they will have to open a Gemini account because rewards will be deposited there directly. Accumulated rewards can then be transferred to anyone and be used for trading and other purposes, said Perlman. 

Details of the card issuer and payments processor will also be announced closer to launch, said Perlman. As for how the card will stand in a competitive landscape, Perlman said, “we’re building some exciting features that we’re confident will differentiate our card in the market. Those details, though, we will announce again closer to launch.”

Last month, BlockFi also announced that it is launching a credit card in the U.S. in the coming months. The firm will offer a flat 1.5% reward in bitcoin for every transaction via the card.

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Gemini, the cryptocurrency exchange and custodian founded by the Winklevoss brothers, has launched the Gemini Credit Card offering cryptocurrency rewards. Read more: Gemini Donates $50K to HRF to Help Fund Another Round of Bitcoin Developers in 2021

Online brokerage eToro has warned customers that it may limit bitcoin and crypto buying over this weekend if demand and volatility continue.

“The unprecedented demand for crypto, coupled with limited liquidity, presents challenges to our ability to support BUY orders over the weekend,” the company said in an email to customers. “In light of this, it may be necessary for us to place limitations on crypto BUY orders over the weekend.”

While the notice relates to this coming weekend, it may also be applied to “the following weekends” if a similar situation continues, an eToro spokeswoman told The Block.

Crypto markets are open 24/7, and investor participation could increase on weekends, especially during bull runs like the current one. Bitcoin has doubled in value within the last one month, from around $19,000 to about $38,000.

If eToro implements the restrictions, it may set a temporary maximum exposure amount per crypto-asset for each client and temporarily suspend the ability to place new crypto buy orders, according to the email.

“There is no certainty that we will have to implement these changes this weekend, but we wanted to ensure our clients were aware of the possibility,” the spokeswoman told The Block.

Last week, eToro gave a four-hour notice to European customers and abruptly closed all crypto margin trades when bitcoin hit an all-time high of around $42,000.

“Please be informed that we may have to make further changes to our crypto offering at very short notice,” eToro warned customers in the latest notice.

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.