‘Crypto curious’: Would you use a crypto credit card? Gemini is banking on it

Time was, debuting and marketing a new financial system meant policy papers, dozens of P&L forecasts, and economic theories full of academic analysis and speculation. But now? “Fire up a bunch of drones all over Austin!”

At this year’s SXSW, cryptocurrency exchange Gemini chose spectacle over spreadsheets, lighting up the sky with a high-tech display meant to herald a future where dollars no longer matter.

The company touted its use of 1,000 drones to form a Bitcoin logo as an assault on “the Guinness World Record for the largest aerial display of a currency symbol formed by drones,” which seems like an awfully specific and niche title to claim. Some deep drilling on the Guiness site turns up hundreds of drone-related entries but nothing related to currency symbols.

In any case, the spectacle is intended to drum up awareness for Gemini’s standing as a cryptocurrency exchange and custodian that was founded by the Winklevoss twins, and is known for its focus on security, regulatory compliance, and making crypto accessible to mainstream users.

Touting its campaign slogan “Go Where Dollars Won’t” every chance they get, company representatives saw the SXSW crowds as a target-rich environment for new products like the Gemini credit card.

“It's an incredible conference and audience that's sort of a more crypto curious crowd. And we just always want to do something different as a brand and, you know, make a different type of a statement,” Gemini head of marketing Olivia Santarelli said during a break from helping crews to prepare the drones for flight.

“There's a huge audience of people that we're speaking to that are interested in getting into crypto and don't really know where to begin. And so I feel like Gemini is sort of the perfect place for them.”

Is Gemini a real credit card?

Yes, a reasonably well-reviewed one, per Nerd Wallet. But you need a Gemini Exchange account, where your crypto rewards are stored.

Where does Gemini fit in the crypto world?

These are obviously heady days to be any kind of a player in the crypto world, given a pro-crypto administration in the White House and the recent establishment of a U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve. To say the regulatory landscape is shifting in favor of digital assets would be an understatement.

Natalie Rix, Gemini’s head of global communications, said the crypto-forward stance by the feds is welcome after years of start-stop uncertainty and regulatory cloudiness by the Joe Biden White House.

“If you wanted to innovate in the United States you had to go hire a team of lawyers and there were no rules of the road. It was like driving down the highway and you get pulled over for speeding and you get such a huge fine that it really impacts your life but there's no speeding limit and you continually ask for the speeding limit but no one will give it to you,” she said.

Rix said Gemini is committed to erasing the fears and skepticism generated by the FTX collapse that managed to penetrate mainstream news headlines across the county. With boss bros Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss pursuing robust regulation and oversight in Singapore, the United Kingdom and New York in the early days of the company, she said the company holds to tight accounting that its leaders say will prevent speculative digital currencies from becoming not even a screen full of 1’s and 0’s.

“From the very beginning, the vision has been to be the most regulated, most secure crypto platform.”

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