Cryptocurrency exchange founded by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, Gemini will soon allow traders to trade Litecoin in its platform. The exchange announced Friday that it would soon allow deposits as well as trading of Litecoin.
Litecoin has been one of the early spin-offs of Bitcoin. It was developed by Charlie Lee. But unlike Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies that have the vision of becoming the number one cryptocurrency, Litecoin was quite different. It was developed as the silver currency of the crypto market while Bitcoin is gold.
Future of Money
According to Gemini’s Vice president of engineering, Eric Winer, he wrote in a blog that this is Gemini’s move in an effort to support “the future of money”. He added that Gemini provided “a safe and regulated environment for both innovation and consumer protection”.
The thing that makes this listing different is that it has been approved by the New York State Department of Finance Services (NYDFS). It has been described by Winer that Gemini is “held to the highest standards of banking compliance and fiduciary obligations”.
Gemini is known for its “security-first” approach. It has been working with the NYDFS in order to get the approval of litecoin trading and custody services according to Winer. In fact, the clients can already start to deposit on October 13. However, the start of full trading happens three days after on October 16. The trading pairs for Litecoin will be against USD, Bitcoin, Ether, and Zcash.
Not Supporting Bitcoin Cash
Winer also said that Gemini originally intended to announce to have Bitcoin Cash as well. However, there is uncertainty around Bitcoin Cash. He explained that “some of these forks lack the replay protection feature that would be required for Gemini to safely support Bitcoin Cash”. He also added that “Because of this situation, we are delaying our launch of Bitcoin cash deposits, withdrawals, and trading until late November, after the forks have passed and we can evaluate the health of the Bitcoin cash ecosystem”.
Controversy Regarding Litecoin
Charlie Lee has been at the center of controversy regarding Litecoin. Charlie Lee made the decision to sell all his Litecoin during the time when the price of the cryptocurrency was at its peak. Lee explained that his decision to sell his entire Litecoin holding on December 20 was to remove any sort of “conflict of interest”. But is it really a way to remove any doubt regarding possible conflict of interest?
There were those who criticized Lee for selling his shares during the time when the price was at a high. However, he still reiterated that it was the right move. He said in an interview before that “I still think it was the right move but I question whether—I think in the long run it was the right move but in the short term while the price is down, below the all-time high, it just feels like it’s not the right decision”. Since then, the price of Litecoin has continued to go down.
Lee thinks that five years down the road, the price will surpass its all-time high and this will be the time that it will feel like it was the right move to make during that time.
