Summary: Important Points
- As a confidential filing, Gemini has applied with the U.S SEC to list an IPO.
- The submission comes a day after Circle made a successful launch in the New York Stock Exchange.
- There is still no announcement on pricing and share volume.
- Symbolizes a tactical shift of the previous legal fight against the SEC.
- There is change in the political and regulatory winds, as the co-founders are supporting Trump.
- Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Winklevoss both contributed 1M to the 2024 campaign of Trump.
- Gemini targets Wall Street with an IPO application.
The crypto exchange, started by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, Gemini (based in New York), has made it official to take on a Wall Street rival.
In the June 6 report, the company announced that it has filed privately a draft registration statement (Form S-1) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), an obligatory process prior to an initial public offering.
Although the specifics of the number of shares and pricing have been kept secret, the firm further explained that the initial public offering (IPO) will be processed later on following the securities, and exchange commission (SEC) review based on the capacity of the market.
“The number of shares of Class A common stock to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined,” Gemini stated in its press release.
Crypto Exchanges and IPO Mania
The announcement of the IPO of Gemini does not come in by chance. One day earlier, Circle, the creator of a stablecoin USDC, managed to start trading at the New York Stock Exchange, having submitted the application to go public in April.
The Wall Street dreams of both companies presage further mainstream financial entry of digital asset platforms, a movement that has increased in pace with regulatory clarity.
“We are not just building financial products. We are building the money layer of the internet,” Circle stated in its June 5 release
SEC suits to Listings on Markets
The decision of Gemini to conduct an IPO will be viewed as a transition in its dealing with regulators. In 2023, SEC sued Gemini and Genesis, claiming that the companies were selling unregistered securities.
According to then-SEC Chair Gary Gensler, we claim that Genesis and Gemini sold unregistered securities to its customers without disclosing the risks, which investors need to know.
“We allege that Genesis and Gemini offered unregistered securities to the public, bypassing disclosure requirements designed to protect investors,” said then-SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
This is because the regulatory climate has since shifted (dramatically so). The SEC under Trump administration also seems to have retreated in its zealous enforcement strategy to a more clear-cut approach to digital financial products.
Market momentum, Money and MAGA
It should be mentioned that political activity of Gemini might be a small part of a bigger game. Winklevoss twins established themselves as the most notable crypto supporters in political circles, as each of them contributed 1 million dollars toward the Donald Trump presidential campaign of 2024.
Furthermore, Gemini is said to have funded crypto-centric PACs, as they take action to sway their publication in Washington concerning digital currencies.
This political orientation could be yielding fruit. As the regulatory heat dies down, a route to publicly traded equities looks open to crypto-native firms.
What it Implies on the Crypto Industry
Being an IPO, Gemini is no ordinary business action, but also an event in the application of the crypto market in the conventional space. It signals:
- Fresh trust on the part of investors on crypto platforms.
- Increased consistency between Washington and Web3 companies.
- In 2025, more blockchain startups make their entry into the public markets.
Overall, this is not a mere financial milestone, as Gemini puts it, it is the time to reinvent money.