Gemini Upcoming IPO: Winklevoss twins' crypto company eyes public launch

The world of startups isn't always about creating something from nothing. In many cases, the success of one company sprouts seeds for others to grow. Sometimes that involves a direct relationship, like a startup founder exiting one company to start another. But in other cases, like with Gemini, founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the cultivation is more nuanced.

The Winklevoss twins rose to fame after alleging that Mark Zuckerberg took their idea for a social network and morphed it into what became Facebook, as the 2010 movie The Social Network depicted. When the twins reached a settlement with Facebook in 2008, they structured the deal as $20 million cash and $45 million in Facebook stock. Ultimately, while they weren't in the driver's seat for Facebook's 2012 IPO, they benefited from the social media network's growth.²

As their fortunes soared, the twins started investing in crypto, particularly Bitcoin, which led to them financing their own crypto exchange, Gemini, which was founded in 2014.³

Now, the Winklevoss twins have evolved from early adopters to potentially leading the IPO of a multi-billion dollar company.⁴

In early March 2025, Bloomberg reported that Gemini confidentially filed an IPO and is working with Goldman Sachs and Citigroup on the transaction.⁵ Shortly after, the company announced the hire of a new CFO, Dan Chen, who previously served as VP of the capital markets and bank partnerships teams at Affirm, a publicly traded Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) company.⁶ That said, no specific IPO date or plans have been publicly announced.

Gemini: Company background

The Winklevoss twins founded Gemini in 2014, based in New York.⁷In October 2015, Gemini received regulatory approval from the New York State Department of Financial Services for a trust charter, enabling the company to take customer deposits.⁸ A few days later, the company went live with trading and started by operating in 26 states plus DC.⁹

In 2016, the company received regulatory approval to become the first licensed ether exchange.¹⁰

Today, the exchange is available across the U.S. and in over 60 countries total.¹¹ It supports trading across some of the top cryptocurrencies, beyond Bitcoin and Ether, such as Litecoin, Polkadot, and Solana.¹² It also launched its own stablecoin, Gemini Dollar in 2018¹³, while also supporting trading of several other stablecoins.

Facilitating broad access to crypto

In Gemini's view, "Crypto is not just a technology, it’s a movement." To get there, the company says, individuals and institutions need "simple, elegant, and secure ways" to engage with crypto.

As such, Gemini has focused on gaining regulatory approvals for its activities, such as in terms of becoming a trust company and custodian.¹⁴

Meanwhile, Gemini has been trying to grow as a company by not only expanding what trades on its exchange, but also by getting into areas like offering a crypto-rewards credit card. Gemini also acquired NFT platform Nifty Gateway in 2019.¹⁵

Amidst these types of developments, Gemini reached $9 billion in assets, according to a January 2024 interview of Gemini's COO by The Street.¹⁶

However, the company has faced some legal issues in recent years, particularly due to fallout from the Gemini Earn program that involved customers loaning crypto assets to a crypto lender, Genesis, that Gemini partnered with. Genesis ended up going bankrupt, which led to Gemini freezing $940 million in customer accounts in November 2022. Fortunately, a rise in crypto prices helped Genesis and Gemini return over $2 billion worth of crypto to Gemini retail customers in 2024.¹⁷

Still, this type of situation exemplifies how companies like Gemini can be exposed to risks, such as the volatility of crypto prices. Gemini also faces significant competition from other crypto exchanges, such as Kraken, another potential IPO candidate.

Gemini stock price history

At this time, Gemini's Forge Price™ is unavailable, due to limited data. Forge Price is a derived data point that reflects the up-to-date price performance of venture-backed, late-stage companies, and is calculated based on a proprietary model incorporating pricing inputs from primary funding round information, secondary market transactions, and indications of interest (IOIs) on Forge.

Consider registering on Forge Markets to keep up with Gemini's stock price if more data becomes available.

Gemini funding history and private market valuation

Gemini has a limited funding history, partially due to the fact that it was initially self-financed by the Winklevoss twins.¹⁸

However, in November 2021, Gemini raised its sole outside funding round, at least in terms of what's been publicly announced. For that growth equity round, Gemini raised $400 million, led by Morgan Creek Digital, at a $7.1 billion valuation. Some of the other investors in that round included 10T, ParaFi, Newflow Partners, Marcy Venture Partners, and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.¹⁹

Looking ahead

While the reported confidential filing of its S-1 is a crucial step toward going public, the details of a Gemini IPO remain unknown

Check back here or take a look at Forge’s upcoming IPO calendar to stay in the loop about a possible Gemini IPO and other pending public offerings.

If you’re interested in investing in private companies like Gemini before they go public, read more about pre-IPO investing or register on Forge Markets today to get started.