Gemini Exchange to Add Zcash, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and Ethereum Classic

The Gemini exchange has announced that it will soon be adding support for three new cryptocurrencies. The Winklevoss twin’s trading platform will begin accepting deposits in Zcash on May 19 with the same being extended to Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ethereum Classic at a later, undisclosed date.

Gemini to be the First Fully Licensed Exchange Offering Zcash

The inclusion of Zcash to the platform has been approved by the New York Department of Financial Services. This makes it the first regulated exchange that will allow the trading of the privacy-focused cryptocurrency. According to a report in Forbes, the first day that Gemini users will be able to buy and sell Zcash will be May 22.

One half of the founding team behind the Gemini exchange, Cameron Winklevoss, wrote in a letter that the inclusion of new cryptos was the result of close collaboration with the NYDFS. In his own words:

“Our approval makes Gemini the first licensed Zcash exchange in the world. It also makes the NYDFS the first regulatory agency in the world to supervise Zcash.”

Also during the letter, Winklevoss acknowledged Zcash’s privacy features. He claimed that these were some of the reasons behind the coin’s appeal. To achieve such anonymity Zcash uses a combination of unshielded and shielded addresses. Initially, Gemini will allow deposits from both forms of addresses but only unshielded withdrawals will be permitted. This will keep the offering compliant with regulations. Cameron did state that they planned to offer support for shielded withdrawals too:

“We are working to support withdrawals to shielded addresses in the future.”

As well as adding support for Zcash, it was announced earlier today that Gemini would also include Litecoin, Ethereum Classic, and Bitcoin Cash. Since all these new additions are forks of either Bitcoin or Ethereum, it should not be difficult from a technical standpoint to integrate them to the platform whilst maintaining the level of security the Gemini exchange prides itself on. Winklevoss actually refers to Bitcoin Cash, Zcash, and Litecoin as being part of the ‘Nakamoto Family Tree’ thanks to their origins stemming from the original Bitcoin code base.

The last time we reported on either of the Winklevoss twins it was in relation to Cameron’s brother Tyler who put out a rather amusing tweet aimed at Microsoft founder Bill Gates. The billionaire had just appeared alongside Charlie Munger and Warren Buffet in a completely one-sided interview for CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box’ segment. During the chat, Gates stated that if there was a way to short Bitcoin, he would do that. Tyler quickly took to Twitter to remind Gates that he could indeed bet on the price of Bitcoin declining by using the Cboe’s Bitcoin futures contracts for which the Gemini exchange’s price is used for settlement purposes.

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