Gemini’s banking relationship with JPMorgan ‘remains intact’

Crypto exchange Gemini has denied rumors that its banking relationship with JPMorgan has been severed. On Wednesday, April 28, the exchange published a brief statement on its blog claiming that the rumors are false and that its relationship with JPMorgan remains intact.

In January, it was reported that JPMorgan had cut ties with Gemini, one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world. Fears that the U.S.-based bank was exiting the crypto industry were exacerbated on April 26 when The Block reported that the purported separation between Gemini and JPMorgan had been "completed within the last 2–3 weeks." However, this was rebutted Wednesday by a brief statement from Gemini.

Reports that Gemini has lost our banking partner are false. Through a secure, limited connection, we continue to maintain bank accounts with JPMorgan Chase.

Gemini is one of the few crypto exchanges that has been able to maintain relations with a traditional bank, although the nature of their relationship is unclear. JPMorgan is the world’s largest bank and has historic ties to the crypto industry.

Gemini’s Relationship with JPMorgan

Gemini is run by the Winklevoss twins, who first rose to fame when they sued Facebook’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg. In 2014, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss launched Gemini in order to facilitate fiat-to-crypto trading. The exchange operates services in jurisdictions across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Puerto Rico. It offers services for BTC, LTC, ETH, and stablecoins such as DAI, GUSD, and USDC.

In 2018, Gemini formed a partnership with JPMorgan which was heralded as the first partnership between a major U.S. bank and a crypto company. At the time, the Winklevoss twins expressed hope that other banks would soon follow JPMorgan’s lead and embrace the crypto industry. That same year, JPMorgan launched its own digital token, JPM Coin, in a bid to streamline its payments operations.

Since then, JPMorgan has taken a much more hostile stance towards the crypto industry, and its relationship with Gemini is no longer seen as a sign that it is embracing the sector. According to reports, JPMorgan’s relationship with Gemini has been limited to accepting deposits, meaning that the crypto exchange cannot take fiat payments from its users. This could explain why the bank has not severed ties with the exchange.

Conclusion

Although Gemini’s banking relationship with JPMorgan is still intact, it’s clear that the U.S.-based banking giant is not fully embracing the crypto industry. JPMorgan’s caution is understandable, given the level of regulatory scrutiny that the crypto sector has been facing. Nonetheless, it should be reassuring to crypto users that the bank is not completely opposed to the industry.