Tyler Winklevoss, a driving force behind the Gemini crypto exchange, is pointing fingers at JPMorgan Chase. He alleges the financial institution put a halt to Gemini’s onboarding as a client in direct response to Winklevoss’s vocal disapproval of JPMorgan’s recently implemented data access policies.
Winklevoss aired his grievances in a Friday statement on X (formerly Twitter). He asserts that JPMorgan’s actions are retaliatory, triggered by his public critique characterizing their new policy as anti-competitive, potentially detrimental to both fintech and cryptocurrency companies.
“My tweet from the prior week clearly struck a chord,” Winklevoss stated. “JPMorgan informed us this week that they are pausing the resumption of Gemini’s customer status, a process initiated after they previously terminated our banking relationship during Operation ChokePoint 2.0. This pause is, according to them, a direct consequence of my criticism.”
The heart of the disagreement lies in a recent Bloomberg report outlining JPMorgan’s intention to levy charges on financial technology firms for accessing customer banking data. Winklevoss contends that this move could effectively “bankrupt fintechs” that facilitate cryptocurrency transactions.
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Winklevoss Alleges JPMorgan Aims to Stifle Fintech Access
Winklevoss further accused JPMorgan of seeking to limit consumers’ ability to freely share their banking information with third-party fintech platforms, specifically mentioning Plaid. Plaid acts as an intermediary, facilitating the connection between financial accounts and various applications and online services.
“We won’t be silenced, Jamie Dimon,” Winklevoss declared, referencing the CEO of JPMorgan Chase. “We will relentlessly expose this anti-competitive, rent-seeking behavior and this morally reprehensible attempt to financially cripple fintech and crypto companies. Our fight for what is just will never cease!”
Gemini’s relationship with JPMorgan has been turbulent for several years. In 2023, during the Biden administration, reports surfaced indicating that the bank had requested Gemini to seek an alternative banking partner, citing concerns regarding profitability.
However, Gemini refuted these claims at the time, stating that “contrary to reports, Gemini’s banking relationship with JPMorgan remains secure.”
Cointelegraph has reached out to both Gemini and JPMorgan for their perspectives on the matter, but had not received replies as of the time of publication.
Related: Gemini to launch crypto derivatives in Europe with new license
Winklevoss Twins Politically Align with Trump
Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss have demonstrated a political affinity for Donald Trump, having contributed to his past campaign and attended multiple events at the White House. Notably, their donations to Trump’s 2024 election campaign were later refunded due to exceeding federal legal limits on individual campaign contributions.
Just last month, Gemini also submitted paperwork for an initial public offering (IPO) to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Specifics regarding the number of shares to be offered and the anticipated price range per share are yet to be determined.
Gemini was co-founded in 2014 by the twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. In November 2021, the company announced a successful fundraising round of $400 million, which valued the cryptocurrency exchange at approximately $7.1 billion.
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