The Winklevoss twins\u2019 crypto exchange Gemini will allocate capital from its $400 million funding round into building a \u201cGemini experience in different Metaverses.\u201d <\/p>\n
Gemini announced that it had closed a $400 million equity growth funding round at a valuation of $7.1 billion on Nov. 18, marking the first time the firm had sought outside financing. Morgan Creek Digital led the round with participation from 10T, ParaFi, Newflow Partners, and Marcy Venture Partners to name a few. <\/p>\n
Notably, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) \u2014 which also partnered with Gemini to launch the first crypto trading services offered by a big four Australian bank \u2014 also backed the round. <\/p>\n
\u201cWith this round of financing, Gemini will continue to bring simple, innovative, and secure products to market, and advance its geographic expansion,\u201d the announcement read. <\/p>\n
During an interview with Forbes published on Nov. 18, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss outlined their plans to expand Gemini\u2019s reach into the Metaverse. <\/p>\n
Tyler noted that instead of building numerous \u201cbranches in meatspace,\u201d \u2014 a reference to the popular meme-based description of physical reality \u2014 the company is aiming to spread itself across multiple Metaverses: <\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re gonna build a Gemini experience in different Metaverses, where you can go into Gemini and trade, but it would be immersive instead of on your phone.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n
According to Forbes, the twins will retain 75% of ownership over Gemini, with Morgan Creek\u2019s general partner Sachin Jaitly joining the board of directors as part of his firm\u2019s $75 million investment into the crypto platform. <\/p>\n
The move will once again bring the duo into competition with Mark Zuckerberg, who they famously battled in court over the ownership of Facebook more than a decade ago. The Twins sued Zuckerberg in 2004, alleging that he stole their intellectual property to create Facebook, and went on to settle in court in 2011 for $65 million. <\/p>\n
Related: <\/em><\/strong>VR Metaverse comes closer to reality as Meta previews haptic gloves<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
Cameron emphasized to Forbes that unlike the centralized roadmap for the Metaverse from firms \u201clike Facebook or Fortnite,\u201d Gemini is aiming for the decentralized route due to the belief that it offers greater upside for the user: <\/p>\n
\u201cBut there is another path, which is the decentralized Metaverse and that\u2019s the Metaverse where we believe there\u2019s greater choice, independence and opportunity, and there is technology that protects the rights and dignity of individuals.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cDecentralization is a spectrum,\u201d Cameron added, noting that \u201cwe want to continue to move down the spectrum toward empowerment.\u201d <\/p>\n
The twins snapped up plots of land in The Sandbox Metaverse at the start of April, with Tyler noting at the time that the plan was to set up Gemini\u2019s crypto exchange and NFT marketplace Nifty Gateway in the play-to-earn focused virtual world. <\/p>\n