Gemini valued at $7.1 billion in first funding round
Crypto exchange Gemini announced today that it has brought in external capital for the first time, raising $400 million at a valuation of $7.1 billion.
Morgan Creek Digital led the growth equity financing with participation from 10T, ParaFi, Newflow Partners, Marcy Venture Partners, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and others.
The news confirms earlier reporting from The Block, which reported in September that Gemini had been exploring a fundraise since the spring and was in the final stages of closing a round. Co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss had funded the exchange by themselves until this point.
The funding is reportedly to help Gemini finance the building of a more decentralized metaverse. The announcement focused on the ways Gemini has diversified its efforts in the crypto space and sought to expand beyond traditional exchange services, like growing its non-fungible token (NFT) platform, Nifty Gateway. Since its launch, the platform has generated more than $420 million in sales.
“We are leading the first outside investment in Gemini because of our shared conviction in crypto and belief in the company that Cameron and Tyler are building,” said Sachin Jaitly, General Partner of Morgan Creek Digital, in the announcement. “Their vision for the role of crypto in redesigning money, the financial system, art, and the Internet, and their track record of incubating and scaling innovative technologies, gives us confidence in Gemini’s ability to continue to be an industry leader.”
In an interview with Forbes, Cameron Winklevoss contrasted a decentralized model of the metaverse with the Meta — once Facebook — path. Facebook rebranded to focus its efforts on building out the metaverse last month.