Gemini, the crypto firm run by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, is cutting up to 25% of its workforce and ending operations in the United Kingdom, European Union and Australia – a retreat that comes during a sustained bitcoin selloff.
The layoffs will impact about 200 employees across Gemini’s operations in the US, Europe and Singapore, the company said in a filing. The Winklevoss twins said the cuts would allow Gemini to “double down on America” and serve US customers.
“These foreign markets have proven hard to win in for various reasons and we find ourselves stretched thin with a level of organizational and operational complexity that drives our cost structure up and slows us down,” the duo, made famous through the fictional depiction of them in 2010’s “The Social Network,” said in a blog post. “And we don’t have the demand in these regions to justify them.”
Gemini’s announcement did not reference the recent slump in bitcoin’s price, which plunged below the $70,000 threshold for the first time since November 2024 on Thursday. Bitcoin is down about 25% since the start of the year and was hovering near $65,000 as of Thursday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Gemini’s stock plunged as much as 9% in Thursday trading and has fallen roughly 85% since hitting an all-time high of $45.89 on Sept. 12 shortly after its public trading debut, according to Bloomberg data.
In November, the embattled crypto firm reported a worse-than-expected quarterly loss of $159.5 million, or $6.67 per share, in its first public earnings report.
Gemini has sought to differentiate its offerings beyond cryptocurrencies. In December, Gemini launched its own prediction market to compete with the likes of Kalshi.
“Our thesis is that prediction markets will be as big or bigger than today’s capital markets,” the twins wrote in their blog post.
The crypto exchange said it expects to complete the layoffs and end operations in the overseas markets by the first half of the year.
The Winklevoss twins are perhaps best known for suing Mark Zuckerberg for allegedly stealing the idea to create Facebook. They eventually reached a sizable settlement and became major crypto investors during the early days of the bitcoin boom.
Gemini has struggled to maintain a major customer base since launch and has also faced regulatory scrutiny, including a lawsuit from New York Attorney General Letitia James, which was settled in June 2024, and another from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC dropped its case in January.
With Post wires
