Bitcoin billionaires Tim Draper and the Winklevoss twins have backed a startup dubbed “Colossal” that is aiming to resurrect woolly mammoths as part of the effort to fight climate change. The “de-extinction”-focused bioscience firm closed a $15-million funding round on Monday that was led by Legendary Pictures founder Thomas Tull. The round also included participation from Peter Diamandis of Bold Capital, Jim Breyer of Breyer Capital, and Tony Robbins, a famous “self-help guru” with a net worth of around $500 million. Colossal was founded by Harvard genetics professor George Church and entrepreneur Ben Lamm. The firm’s landmark de-extinction project will …

Gemini exchange co-founder Cameron Winklevoss has stated that the company expects to overtake the current largest crypto exchange by volume, Binance, predicting its emphasis on compliance will win out as regulators increasingly crack down on unregulated exchanges. As reported by Bloomberg on Monday, Cameron Winklevoss emphasized the importance of adhering to regulators’ demands, stating that Gemini is “playing the long game:" “We’re trying to be the fastest tortoise in the race. The long game pays off over time.” The comments come as Binance faces increasing regulatory pressure, with the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority telling Binance that it wasn’t authorized …

Gemini, a major cryptocurrency exchange founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, is responding to Bitcoin’s (BTC) environmental issue by purchasing carbon credits. On Thursday, the company announced its long-term initiative to incorporate climate-conscious measures into its business, launching a collaboration with Climate Vault, a nonprofit founded at the University of Chicago. Through the initiative, Gemini plans to purchase carbon credits for nearly 350,000 metric tons of carbon to offset non-renewable energy consumed by Bitcoin miners and help decarbonize Bitcoin on the Bitcoin network. According to the announcement, the partnership will have Gemini purchase carbon permits directly from government-related cap-and-trade markets …

New York-based non-profit, Charity: water, has received more than $1 million in BTC donations to its Bitcoin Water Trust within three weeks of the trust's launch. The Bitcoin Water Trust was announced during the 2021 Bitcoin conference in Miami. The initiative attracted attention for its “HODL MODL” treasury management strategy — with the non-profit accepting donations in Bitcoin that it will not touch until 2025. According to the charity’s website, a total of 32.5949 BTC has been donated so far, which equates to more than $1.3 million at current prices. The charity is hoping to leverage the hypothetical gains Bitcoin …

New York cryptocurrency exchange Gemini announced on Tuesday the pending release of the Gemini Credit Card, which will allow cardholders to receive cashback rewards in the form of Bitcoin (BTC) or any other cryptocurrency available on the Gemini platform. The credit card will be released in conjunction with Mastercard and will be issued by online banking institution WebBank. It is expected to be released this coming summer and has reportedly received over 140,000 sign-ups from waiting customers already, according to the company’s press release. Gemini joins major cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance and Coinbase in launching a crypto credit card. The …

Major American cryptocurrency exchange Gemini now lets its users purchase cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) with Apple Pay and Google Pay. According to a Thursday announcement, Gemini users can now connect their debit cards to Apple Pay or Google Pay for buying crypto with fiat on the platform. The firm noted that user funds will be available to withdraw one hour after a purchase was made. The new feature is available for over 30 cryptocurrencies supported on Gemini, including major coins like BTC, Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH), as well as Ethereum-based tokens like AAVE and Maker's MKR. …

The Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss-owned Gemini exchange announced a major milestone on Tuesday, as total cryptocurrency held in custody surpassed $25 billion for the first time. In charting its impressive growth, Gemini touted growing participation from institutional investors over the past year. Gemini Custody’s assets have more than doubled since the start of 2021. “Our custodial services are used by some of the worlds largest asset managers including BlockFi, Blockchange CoinList, CI Global Asset Management, DAiM, BTG Pactual, Caruso, Eaglebrook Advisors, and WealthSimple,” the company said in a statement. The outspoken Tyler Winklevoss tweeted about the milestone on Tuesday: .@Gemini …

The United States government has increasingly stepped up its overwatch on crypto in recent years, although an outright ban on Bitcoin is now unlikely — at least according to Gemini CEO and co-founder Tyler Winklevoss. “I think, if we were back in 2013, this would be kind of an open question,” Winklevoss told podcaster Peter McCormack when asked about regulation and a Bitcoin (BTC) ban during a Friday episode of the What Bitcoin Did podcast: “I think that the U.S. will never outlaw Bitcoin. There’s too much precedent that’s been set in the courts. The Coinflip order, which was a …

A scripted TV series that's about crypto — and funded by it — is in development at Beacon Pictures, the independent production company behind “Bring It On”, and popular ABC drama “Castle.” According to Deadline Hollywood, the 10 part TV crypto-comedy series “Hold on for Dear Life” — a reference of sort to the slang term 'Hodl' — aims for principal photography to shoot in Puerto Rico from August. The show, which was created by anonymous crypto insider calling themselves ‘Suhh Toshee’, will look to reflect the lives of crypto entrepreneurs, and hopefully be funded by them. Beacon CEO Mark …

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, co-founders of the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange and former Olympian rowers, will be sponsoring the 2021 Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race. In an announcement from Gemini on Tuesday, the Winklevoss twins said the crypto exchange would be the principal sponsor of this year’s boat race between Oxford University and Cambridge University — an event going back to 1829. In addition, Gemini will be funding a 75,000 euro ($89,256) scholarship for “young people with limited access to rowing.” Both brothers rowed at Harvard University for four years while majoring in economics, later competing at the 2007 Pan American Games and …

Gemini cryptocurrency exchange has launched an interest-earning program for customers in the United States. Dubbed Gemini Earn, the program lets customers earn up to 7.4% annual interest on all cryptocurrencies supported by Gemini, the firm announced Tuesday. The platform supports 26 cryptos like Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Zcash (ZEC) and others. The program is immediately available for select Gemini customers, while a full-scale rollout is scheduled for early February. Gemini chief operating officer Noah Perlman told Cointelegraph that interest rates for each cryptocurrency are based on supply and demand in the market for borrowing that …

Gemini, a cryptocurrency exchange founded by the Winklevoss brothers, continues to strengthen its global presence by tapping into the Singaporean market. On Monday, Gemini announced a roll-out of several new features for its platform in Singapore, including support for the Singapore dollar on mobile and desktop. According to the announcement, Gemini customers in Singapore can now use a debit card to buy crypto with Singapore dollars as well as use electronic funds transfer service FAST to make deposits on Gemini. In a move to support the development of local decentralized finance, Gemini now also allows Singaporeans to trade major DeFi …