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Winklevoss Twins Talk about Bitcoin with Live Audience in New York

Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:44 PM
P. H. Madore
Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:44 PM

17-geminiDigital Gold author Nathaniel Popper, who wrote his first Bitcoin article about the Winklevoss Twins’ involvement in it, interviewed the twins earlier tonight in New York at an event hosted by GeneralAssemb.ly.

Gemini Weeks Away

The burning question among the Bitcoin community was on the progress of Gemini, the brothers’ exchange, which will be based in New York. Up to now, they’ve told the world they were waiting on the finalization of the BitLicense proposal to get things going, although Cameron Winklevoss made sure to say, “Our tech is there. We are ready to operate.”

Prior to that, Tyler had said, in regards to how long it will be before the exchange will be approved by the government, “We feel like it’s weeks. […] We do feel like we’re on the two yard line.” He made sure to walk that statement back some, saying it could be his “famous last words.”

Also read: Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust ETF Files for 1m Shares on Nasdaq; More to Be Revealed in January

Bitcoin is as Important as the Block Chain

Cameron addressed a common refrain heard recently, wherein old-school investors are saying that the block chain is the real innovation, and that Bitcoin is really unnecessary. Specifically, he said, “Some people are saying I love the Blockchain, I hate the Bitcoin, but you need them both.” Tyler described Bitcoin as the “carrot” that promotes the securing and decentralization of the network.

Questions from the in-person audience were rather basic in nature, far below the level of understanding that our readers would likely have asked the brothers. The last audience question was regarding the typically BTC/USD pairing, and although the question showed a fundamental misunderstanding of how Bitcoin exchanges work, Tyler took the opportunity to clarify that Bitcoin is a transnational technology. He said there had been some internal debate about where to operate, and that ultimately they had settled on New York because the BitLicense would overall offer them some guidelines on how to operate legally, in contrast to other jurisdictions where running a digital currency business can still be quite ambiguous.

On this subject, of regulation, the brothers had earlier in the interview expounded on the importance (in their view) of regulation. Tyler said:

We’re in favor of healthy regulation. [NYDFS] really are a friend of Bitcoin in New York. Money can be used for bad thigns and we have to keep that in mind.

Although the LiveStream audience repeatedly indicated they’d like to hear the brothers weigh in on the current block size debate and how it might affect the future of Bitcoin, instead the second question delivered to them from the LiveStream audience was about their position on Bitcoin. To this, they said, “We are bullish and we still have our Bitcoin stash.” They said they are holding long term, and had throughout the interview underlined the fact that Bitcoin is as yet a new technology.