Winklevoss digital currency exchange expands into Canada

By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK, June 6 (Reuters) - Gemini Trust Co, the U.S.-based
bitcoin exchange founded by investors Tyler and Cameron
Winklevoss, has opened trading in Canada, marking the start of
an international expansion program.
In an interview late on Friday, Gemini Chief Executive
Officer Tyler Winklevoss said Canadian citizens would only be
able to trade bitcoin and ether on the exchange for now.
Trading bitcoin and ether against fiat currencies such as
the dollar will take a few weeks, Winklevoss said, adding that
no regulatory approval was needed to operate in Canada.
Winklevoss said Gemini would open another international
location over the next two weeks.
Digital currencies have gained popularity among investors as
major financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS)
GS.N and global technology companies such as International
Business Machines Corp IBM (NYSE:IBM).N try to unlock the potential uses
and applications of these assets' underlying technology, the
blockchain.
The blockchain is a database that enables a network of
computers to validate, clear, settle, track, and record the
ownership of assets as they are traded.
Ether, an alternative currency that differs from bitcoin, is
a token or digital asset of the Ethereum platform, a public
blockchain.
"We decided to open first with the bitcoin and ether order
book," said Winklevoss. "We think there's great demand for that;
there are a lot of people who own bitcoin, and they don't have a
safe place to store them."
He added that most bitcoin and ether investors were trading
on unregulated and unlicensed exchanges.
Gemini last month became the first and so far only exchange
that New York state allows to trade ether, Winklevoss said.
Volume on Gemini since ether started trading on the exchange
has grown steadily, he said.
"Over the last 30 days, we have traded approximately $30
million in notional value of both bitcoin and ether."
Bitcoin on Monday traded at $582.79 BTC=BSTP on the
Bitstamp platform, with a market capitalization of $9.1 billion,
according to crypto-currency data website coinmarketcap.com.
Ether, the second-largest digital currency behind bitcoin,
last changed hands at $13.92 and had a market capitalization of
about $1.1 billion.