Winklevoss Twins’ Bitcoin Exchange
They have a reassuring security page[0]. It's nice to see they're enforcing good practices, I especially appreciate their "no-link email policy" where they will never send you links in emails, which seems like a great way to head off phishing attempts. I hope they actually present this to users in some way during sign-up though, or it won't be of much help unless a user manually navigates to the security page and reads through most of it.
I'm a little disappointed that they only have level 2[1] HSMs in the cloud, as I would be uncomfortable protecting my hot wallet keys with only tamper evident protections, rather than level 3+ that actually attempt to detect intrusion and delete keys. Bitcoin makes for very quick stealing once you have keys, so reactive defenses against key loss don't help much as you're literally in a race condition with the attacker to empty the wallet (you into a non-compromised one, the attacker into their own). But I would assume they weighed cost/risk and I've never heard of a security compromise of Amazon's HSMs so it was probably a reasonable choice.
edit: I should also applaud their use of PGP and (explicit) respect for responsible disclosure.
It's live! You can see there is some activity starting: https://cryptowat.ch/gemini
Also, there was a great post on /r/bitcoinmarkets by the CTO of another exchange, picking apart Gemini's technical setup. Worth a read if you're into modern frontend web development.
https://www.reddit.com/r/BitcoinMarkets/comments/3nkxh3/gemi...
What is the difference between this exchange and say, Coinbase, that makes it "next generation"? The website is very light on details.
Interesting (unfortunate?) time to launch this with the malleability attacks going on.
Nifty. I think this is the first BTC operation I've seen where words like "compliance" are used in a serious fashion, and a direct aim at institutional investors is presented. Institutional investors are Very Serious Business, so it should be a fun ride.
I'm still holding out for a BTC ETF. :-)
Very slick identity verification process.
Instead of requiring a scan of your driver's license or other identifying document, they ask you for questions about your history. I've seen a similar process used at etrade.
> Gemini operates fully in the United States. We work exclusively with American banks; your dollars are eligible for FDIC insurance and never leave the country
Is this just for the cash balance with the exchange or the bitcoin balance as well? I can't imagine it does, but it would be a strong selling point if it did. If its not, its pretty misleading as written.
> FDIC insurance covers all types of deposits received at an insured bank, including deposits in a checking account, negotiable order of withdrawal (NOW) account, savings account, money market deposit account (MMDA), time deposit such as a certificate of deposit (CD), or an official item issued by a bank, such as a cashier's check or money order.
> FDIC insurance covers depositors' accounts at each insured bank, dollar-for-dollar, including principal and any accrued interest through the date of the insured bank's closing, up to the insurance limit.The FDIC does not insure money invested in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, life insurance policies, annuities or municipal securities, even if these investments are purchased at an insured bank.
Did Uber open source their css?
On an unrelated note, can anyone tell me what that parallaxy, image sliding feature of their website is, so search for it and learn it?
ha, "gemini", get it?
What is the best way to get bitcoin without associating it with your identity (credit cards, debt cards, etc).
Accepting pre-paid cards is fine too
Not operational in Texas yet, apparently.
What a beautiful, fast website.
How does this not create a conflicting trademark with ISE Gemini?
Kind of annoying that they try to push the Authy app install first, then let you authenticate without it.
Love the interface, but would even greater if they would let you short somehow.
"Thank you! We will notify you when Gemini has launched in Netherlands."
Bleh.
undefined
This is the perfect opportunity to hawk my own exchange because we should all have alternatives. http://bitcoinsexchange.itmustbetrue.com
So now when does Mark Zuckerberg launch his Bitcoin exchange?
undefined
So, Winklevoss + Bitcoins + HN. Who's found vulns?