Name: Insights: Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss On How To Regulate Cryptocurrency
Uploaded: 2020-02-25
Duration: 5 min 10 s
Description: The Winklevoss brothers have launched the 'Revolution Needs Rules' marketing campaign to educate consumers about their product. (January 2019)

[MUSIC PLAYING] TYLER WINKLEVOSS: Companies who build on top of things like Bitcoin should have regulation that's thoughtful, that doesn't stifle innovation. So that's kind of the message, and a lot of people believe in the dream of crypto, but they just don't know how to engage in it without getting burned. And we're here to say that Gemini is a place you can do that. SPEAKER 1: So who's the audience exactly? Are you targeting retail Bitcoin buyers or companies or regulators or everyone? TYLER WINKLEVOSS: Pretty much everybody. Yeah, that's right. And the people who want the same protections when they deal in crypto as they do if they open up a bank account or they trade security like a share of Apple, we're trying to say that we have the same standards of licensing compliance safeguards and consumer protections at Gemini as you would be afforded in other financial markets. JEN WIECZNER: You have slogans like crypto without chaos. And you're talking about a revolution. I mean, was there-- were you noticing problems or something that was different about you versus other companies, problems that you were trying to solve or ways that you thought you could differentiate here? CAMERON WINKLEVOSS: Yeah, I mean, I think, unfortunately, there's still a perception that the crypto is a bit of a wild, wild west. And I think we haven't done ourselves too many favors historically. There's been Silk Road, and that took years to get out of the headlines. You couldn't read an article without reading something about illicit activity and this idea that Bitcoin was truly anonymous, which it's not. And it's taken years to sort of shake that image. But there are places like Gemini that are doing-- building in a regulated fashion. We're a New York trust company, which is one of the oldest licensing frameworks in the world. And we have the safeguards and protections that any financial institution has, so getting people aware of that aspect. SPEAKER 1: Is part of the problem, though, you want rules like regulations. But I mean, I know Jen's wrote a couple stories on the state of the New York regulators and the bit license, which, frankly, seems to be a boondoggle. Is it possible that regulators are part of your problem as well? CAMERON WINKLEVOSS: So from what we see-- TYLER WINKLEVOSS: We don't think so. CAMERON WINKLEVOSS: Yeah. TYLER WINKLEVOSS: They're actually the reason we have a business. Because without a license, you can't get a banking relationship and you can't accept deposits of Fiat, so you can't start your company. So we think that regulation has been a big boon to New York. It's brought in a lot of companies Gemini is a New York company, not for any other reason, but because there is a licensing framework. And we could become a trust company. We would have gone to Alaska if that was possible, but it wasn't. So. We chose New York. So we think regulation has been a big win for New York state. JEN WIECZNER: Are you calling for more regulations, or what other kinds of rules or guidance would you like to see from the SEC and other regulators? CAMERON WINKLEVOSS: Well, I think the idea is thoughtful regulation. So we've been working on the virtual commodity association, which is an SRO, to help self police virtual commodity marketplaces and bring best practices from the equities world and the derivatives world into the crypto world. So we're not reinventing the wheel. We're just taking these safeguards and protections and bringing them into the world of crypto. So that's the idea. SPEAKER 1: I'd like to look forward a little bit since through the bubbles popped, we're seeing some green shoots. And one of them is a stable coin. So I think the Gemini stable coin's got some traction. Do you want to sort of explain the appeal of that? I mean, why hold a stable coin? CAMERON WINKLEVOSS: Yeah, the idea with the Gemini dollar is that we've brought dollars onto the blockchain. So dollars are a pretty good use of payment to buy things. When you buy things with Bitcoin, you could be overpaying, underpaying, depending on how much the price rises or falls. And we've overpaid for things before. TYLER WINKLEVOSS: Yeah, we've made that mistake. The Bitcoin Pizza was bought for 10,000 bitcoin, which was $20 eight years ago. And now it's, like, a $50 million pizza. So you don't want to make that mistake. CAMERON WINKLEVOSS: It's a very good pizza. TYLER WINKLEVOSS: So the Gemini dollar allows you to buy things and spend things in cryptocurrency without worrying about that volatility risk of overpaying on things. SPEAKER 1: What, you mean just buying other cryptos, or do you mean buying well off assets? TYLER WINKLEVOSS: You can buy other cryptos. You can take other exchanges in trade. You can also use it for decentralized applications. If someone creates Uber on the blockchain, and all of a sudden, you can interact and hire someone to pick you up and pay-- and it's just a currency for cryptocurrency. And a lot of the cryptocurrencies we've known historically, like Bitcoin or even ICOs, they don't really make for good currency. You don't go to Starbucks and bring a bar of gold in and pay for your coffee. You bring dollars in. And so we brought dollars onto the blockchain with the Gemini dollars, so that you can actually buy your cup of coffee now with cryptocurrency. JEN WIECZNER: Do you think Gemini might ever consider diversifying beyond cryptocurrency, into other assets like the stock market or more traditional things? CAMERON WINKLEVOSS: We've definitely thought about it, and we continue to think about it. I think crypto native tokens will probably always be a Gemini thing, but we do virtual commodities today. So Bitcoin and forks at Bitcoin, they fall under the legal framework of a virtual commodity. But virtual security tokens is a real thing, and those backed by sort of real assets, I think there's a bright future there. So we may move into that, but straight up equities, probably not anytime soon. 

Insights: Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss On How To Regulate Cryptocurrency

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The brothers launched the 'Revolution Needs Rules' campaign.

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss Want To Regulate Cryptocurrency

The Winklevoss brothers have launched the 'Revolution Needs Rules' marketing campaign to educate consumers about their product. (January 2019)

companies who build on top of things like Bitcoin should have regulation. That's thoughtful. That doesn't stifle innovation. So that's kind of the message. And a lot of people believe in the dream of crypto, but they just don't know how to engage in it without getting burned. And we're here to say that Jim is a place you could do that. So who's the audience? Exactly you targeting you know, retail Bitcoin buyers or companies or regulators for everyone? Pretty much everybody. Yeah, that's right. In the people who want the same protections when they deal in crypto as they do if they open up a bank account or they trade security like a share of apple, we're tryingto say that we have the same standards of licensing, compliance, safeguards and consumer protections at Gemini, as you would be afforded, and other financial markets. You have slogans like crypto without chaos and you're talking about a revolution. I mean, was there were you noticing problems, you know, or something that was different about you versus other companies. Problems between us solve our ways that you thought you could differentiate here? Yeah. I mean, I think unfortunately, there's still a perception that the crypto is is a bit of a wild, Wild West, and I think the crypto hasn't we haven't done ourselves too many favors. Historically, there's been Silk Road, and that took years to get out of the headlines. You know, you could read an article without reading something about illicit activity and this idea that Bitcoin was truly anonymous, which it's not, and it's taken years to sort of shake that image. But there are places like Gemini that air doing building in a regulated fashion, where New York Trust Company, which is one of the oldest licensing frameworks in the world, and we have the safeguards and protections that any financial institution has so getting people aware of that aspect. It is part of the problem, though. You want you want rules like regulations. But, I mean, I know Jen's bro. Couple stories on the state of the New York regulators bit license, which, frankly, seems to be a boondoggle. Is it possible that regulators your party a problem as well So way, don't they? Yeah, they're they're actually the reason we have business, because without a license, you can't get a banking relationship and you can't accept deposits of Fiat so you can't start your company. So we think that regulation has brought has been a big boon to New York. It's brought in a lot of companies German eyes in New York company, not for any other reason but because there was a licensing framework and we could become a trust company. We would have gone to Alaska if that was possible, but it wasn't so. We chose New York. So we think regulations been a big win for New York state. Are you calling for more regulations or what other kinds of rules or guidance would you like to see from? The SEC and other regulators will think the idea is thought for regulation. So we've been working on the Virtual Commodity Association, which is an S R. O, to help self police virtual commodity market places and bring best practices from the equities world in the driver's world into the crypto world. We're not re inventing the wheel. We're just taking these safeguards and protections and bringing them into the world of crypto. So that's the idea. I'd like to look forward a little bit since they're the bubbles popped. We're seeing some green shoots and one of them is stable coins. I think you need a nice, stable coins. Got some traction? Do you want to explain the appeal of that? I mean, why? Why? Why hold a stable point? Yeah, The idea with the Gemini dollar is that we brought dollars onto the block chain, so dollars are pretty good use of payment to buy things. When you buy things with Bitcoin, you could be overpaying, underpaying depending on how much the price rises or falls. And we've overpaid for things. Yeah, we've made that mistake. The Bitcoin pizza was bought 10,000 Bitcoin, which was $20 you know, eight years ago. And now it's like a $50 million pizza. You know what A very good. So the Gemini Dollar allows youto buy things and spend things on, you know, encrypted currency without worrying about that volatility, rest of overpaying. But you mean just blind. Other cryptozoology means you can You can buy their kryptos. You can take the other exchanges and trade. You can also use it for decentralized applications. If someone creates uber on, you know, the Blockchain and all of a sudden you can interact and hire someone to pick you up and pay. And it's just a currency for Cryptocurrency and a lot of the Cryptocurrency we've known historically, like Bitcoin or even I suppose they don't really make for good currency. You don't go to Starbucks and bring a bar of gold in and pay for a coffee you bring dollars in. And so we brought dollars on the block chain with Gemini dollars so that you can actually buy your cup of coffee. Now with Cryptocurrency, do you think Jim and I might ever consider diversifying beyond crypto currency into other assets like the stock market or, you know, more traditional things? We've definitely thought about it. We continue to think about it. Um, I think Krypton native tokens will probably always be a Gemini thing, But we do virtual commodities today, so Bitcoin and forks the Bitcoin they fall under the legal framework of a virtual commodity. But virtual security tokens is a real thing, and those backed by real assets. I think that there's a bright future there, so we may move into that. But straight up equities, probably not any time soon