Rebecca Cruz Crypto history just added another milestone: Gemini, the exchange founded by the Winklevoss twins, has gone public—raising $425 million in its IPO.
🚀 The Big Picture
IPO haul: $425 million raised.
Share price: $28 per share—well above the initially expected $24–$26 range (and far higher than early chatter of $17–$19).
Ticker: GEMI, now trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
Lead bookrunners: Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and Cantor.
🔑 Key Points You Need to Know
A Premium Debut: Investors clearly see upside—shares priced at the top end and then some, signalling strong demand even in a cautious IPO market.
Twins Keep Control: Despite going public, the Winklevoss brothers maintain 94.5% voting power—a near iron grip on decision-making. This mirrors the founder-heavy structures we’ve seen at tech IPOs like Meta and Snap.
Nasdaq Buys In: In a major vote of confidence, Nasdaq Inc. itself scooped up $50 million worth of GEMI shares in a private placement. That’s not something you see every day—it shows the exchange wants skin in the crypto game.
Retail-Friendly Allocation: Up to 30% of shares were set aside for retail investors through Robinhood, SoFi, and Webull, while long-time Gemini users also got a slice. This is a strategic play to deepen loyalty among crypto’s grassroots traders.
Positioning in the Market: Gemini now joins Coinbase and Bullish as the only U.S.-listed crypto exchanges. With Coinbase often dominating headlines, Gemini’s IPO is a statement: we’re not just playing catch-up—we’re here to compete head-on.
📊 Why This Matters
The IPO cements Gemini’s role among publicly traded crypto firms at a time when Wall Street is warming up again to digital assets.
With Circle’s blockbuster IPO earlier this year and now Gemini’s, crypto firms are signalling that public markets are back open for business.
Investors will be watching closely to see if Gemini can scale beyond being the “compliance-first” alternative to Coinbase and carve out its own growth story.
⚡ Bottom Line
Gemini’s IPO is more than just a capital raise—it’s a power play by the Winklevoss twins to cement their exchange’s place in the upper tier of the U.S. crypto market. With strong retail participation, Nasdaq’s backing, and control firmly in the hands of its founders, GEMINI’s debut could shape the competitive balance in crypto trading for years to come.
Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards.
