Gemini bitcoin exchange founded by twin brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss will start offering ETH/BTC and ETH/USD trading pairs, thus becoming the first licensed ether exchange in the world.

New York State Department of Financial Services (“NYSDFS”), in turn, has become the first regulator in the world to license ether trading at a digital currency exchange, notes Cameron Winklevoss in a recent publication on the exchange’s website.

Ether trading will begin on Monday 9 May, reads the announcement, but anyone may already store their ethers at the exchange until the trading starts.

“This action continues New York’s long tradition of pioneering new innovations and emerging industries,” said Governor Andrew M. Cuomo as quoted in the official press release on the DFS website. “With robust regulatory oversight, we are maintaining our status at the forefront of this technological revolution and ensuring that users have a safe and secure experience.”

The Winklevoss brothers, in turn, note that such an innovative step on behalf of the New York regulators as giving the first ever ether trading licence “demonstrates their commitment to being global thought leaders in financial regulation.”

The event also shows growing interest towards ether and the Ethereum platform. According to Cameron Winklevoss, the exchange opens ether trading because during the last six months the ether market capitalisation and liquidity have dramatically grown, and the great variety of Ethereum-based applications demonstrates its good perspectives.

DFS licensed the exchange to trade digital currency in October 2015 after it published cryptocurrency rules as a result of a nearly two years’ long inquiry into appropriate regulatory guidelines.

The intention to have a licence issued by state regulators corresponds very well with the ideology of Gemini, which is based on reliability. The first thing the company tells about itself is that it is “fully-regulated”. “People deserve a safer and more trustworthy digital asset exchange,” reads the website. “So we built one.”

ItBit became the first regulated bitcoin exchange in the USA after receiving a bitcoin licence last May.

Andrew Levich