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Founded in , the Winklevoss twins' Gemini platform seeks to empower individuals through crypto while growing globally and focusing on non-fungible tokens.

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Key points

• Gemini crypto platform announced it closed an equity funding round worth $ million that pegs the company's total market capitalization at $ billion.
• Brothers Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss founded Gemini in and have grown it to become one of the leading crypto platforms globally.
• Gemini empowers retail investors to buy, sell, and hold cryptos as well as create and invest in non-fungible tokens (NFTS) and more.

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Late last week the wunderkind tandem of Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss announced the successful close of a $ million equity round of financing for their cryptocurrency platform, Gemini. This latest funding infusion balloons Gemini's balance sheet to an impressive $ billion valuation. "Gemini is the portal into crypto for new and seasoned investors alike," said Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder and CEO of Gemini in the official statement announcing the funding round. "The investors that we have brought on in this round share our ambitious vision for the future."

Crypto makes interesting connections

Those investors include rapper Jay-Z's Marcy Ventures Partners and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA). Earlier this month, CBA proved its crypto bona fides by announcing it would enable crypto trading on its mobile app for retail banking customers, becoming only one of a handful of banks in the world that offers crypto services. Of note, Gemini is providing the cryptocurrency exchange and custodial digital wallet for CBA customers interested in exploring programmable money as part of that agreement.

Gemini plans to expand ex-U.S. and continue its NFT growth

In its statement, Gemini noted that the new funding would fuel its geographic growth -- targeting Asia, Africa, and South America -- as its crypto exchange service is already available in 60 countries spanning other continents of the world. It says it also plans on continuing its investment in NFTs. Since launching in March , Gemini's Nifty Gateway has racked up more than $ million in sales via unique artist collaborations -- including famous artists such as Beeple -- solidifying its spot as an NFT destination.

What's next for Gemini?

"We are incredibly excited to continue to build on the frontier of crypto and give individuals around the world greater choice, independence, and opportunity through crypto," stated Cameron Winklevoss, co-founder and president of Gemini.

Future crypto regulation could one day impact the industry on a whole, but until (and if) that comes down the pike, crypto will likely continue to show up just about everywhere we can imagine, leaving a trail of dollar signs in its wake.

Buy and sell crypto on an expert picked exchange

There are hundreds of platforms around the world that are waiting to give you access to thousands of cryptocurrencies. And to find the one that's right for you, you'll need to decide what features that matter most to you.

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About the Author

MicroStrategy has added 7, bitcoin to its holdings in a purchase of approximately $ million, an average price of $59, per BTC, the company disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The software intelligence firm now holds around , BTC acquired at an aggregate purchase price of $ billion, averaging approximately $29, per bitcoin.

The company financed the acquisition by selling class A common stock, which the company previously disclosed in June. According to the filing, the company had issued and sold , shares for $ million during the fourth quarter, between October 1 and November Each share sold for an average price of $

MicroStrategy has an impeccable track record of purchasing bitcoin as the price dips. The company is the biggest corporate holder of bitcoin in the world, excluding financial funds and similar institutions. At the time of writing, it holds around % of the total circulating supply of 18,, BTC &#x; approximately % of the total amount of bitcoin to be ever issued, 21 million.

The company is also characterized by a strict HODL mentality. In August, its CEO Michael Saylor explained in an interview that MicroStrategy purchases bitcoin directly, custody it themselves, and doesn&#x;t lend it out. Saylor, who became a notable figure in the Bitcoin community after sharing his extreme confidence in the monetary good&#x;s properties and the accompanying buy and hold strategy, has pushed the Bitcoin agenda at MicroStrategy and made it part of the firm&#x;s business model.

Since Saylor pledged not to stop acquiring bitcoin on his company&#x;s Q2 investor call in September, MicroStrategy has purchased nearly 20, BTC. Tesla is the second-biggest corporate holder of bitcoin, with a stack of around 43, BTC.

(Bloomberg) --

MicroStrategy Inc. said it’s raising $ million through a debt offering as part of its pursuit to acquire more Bitcoin.

The Tysons Corner, Virginia-based enterprise software company said in a filing Monday the firm is offering senior secured notes that will be available to qualified institutional buyers. MicroStrategy has, with Michael Saylor at its helm, emerged as one of the most bullish public companies on cryptocurrencies.

MicroStrategy is marketing the offering through Tuesday, and pricing is expected thereafter, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. is the sole bookrunner on the deal, said the person, who asked not to be identified as the details are private.

Saylor has been one of leading advocates of converting company cash to Bitcoin, saying that that the Federal Reserve’s relaxing of its inflation policy helped convince him to invest MicroStrategy’s reserves. Earlier this year, Tesla Inc. surfaced as one of the few mainstream companies to follow such a move but its CEO, Elon Musk, has since then raised issues over Bitcoin’s environmental impact.

Earlier this year, Saylor told Bloomberg that he was considering issuing more debt in order to help finance the company’s purchase of Bitcoin as part of its corporate strategy. The company has also issued convertible bonds in its quest to scoop up more of the cryptocurrency.

In mid-May, the MicroStrategy disclosed that it holds approximately 92, Bitcoins, which it says were acquired for about $ billion at an average of about $24, per token. Monday’s filing shows the company’s existing cache of Bitcoins will be held by a newly formed subsidiary called MacroStrategy LLC.

© Bloomberg L.P.

North Korea stole nearly $ million in cryptocurrency in , particularly ethereum, researchers have found, indicating its national strategy of hacking and laundering digital money remains successful.

The isolated country, beset by sanctions from the United States and other countries, has long relied on its hacker corps to break into financial institutions around the world to steal money. In recent years, those hackers have increasingly focused on companies that handle and trade cryptocurrency, which is stored in digital wallets and can easily be sent around the world if a hacker gains access.

A United Nations report last year found that North Korea had hacked and stolen $ million in virtual assets between and to use for its nuclear weapons program.

That tactic was particularly effective last year, according to researchers at Chainalysis, a company that monitors transactions on blockchains, which are a kind of public record that track all transactions for most cryptocurrencies. North Korea’s hackers successfully breached at least seven cryptocurrency exchanges and laundered the money,the company said.

Many cryptocurrencies have risen sharply in value in recent years, and software developers have created an entire ecosystem of projects and exchanges that allow users to trade one type of cryptocurrency for another, or from virtual money to cash. While many major exchanges follow guidelines to collect information on users in order to counter money laundering, the internet is also rife with places that don’t bother, opening the door for malicious actors like North Korea's hackers.

According to research from the cybersecurity company Kaspersky, also published Thursday, North Korea has a dedicated hacking team that has been steadily attacking small- and medium-sized companies that deal with cryptocurrency and related projects. Such companies are frequent targets for hackers, who stole a record $14 billion in cryptocurrency last year.

Unlike many criminals who receive cryptocurrencies, North Korea doesn’t rush to immediately convert it to conventional currency, said Erin Plante, the senior director of investigations at Chainalysis and the author of the report.

Instead, it continuously launders moderate amounts of its hacked cryptocurrency while holding on to around $ million of it from older hacks, she said, capitalizing on the fact that major cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ethereum have increased in value in recent years.

“They’re very strategic. They’re not rushed in cashing out,” Plante said. “They’re looking at a significantly larger amount” because they waited, she said.

Kevin Collier

Kevin Collier is a reporter covering cybersecurity, privacy and technology policy for NBC News.

In February , an anonymous cryptocurrency enthusiast capitalized on a dramatic bitcoin price plunge by scooping up $ million worth of bitcoin. 

Cryptocurrencies had a tumultuous start to At the start of , many digital currencies were riding a wave of price growth, and the market capitalization of the industry grew to the point that a $1 trillion valuation didn't seem unreasonable. Then, early in , prices collapsed, and many of the top 20 cryptocurrencies slumped considerably.

While the price dump may not have been the cryptocurrency bubble pop that many analysts have predicted, it did mean that top cryptocurrencies, even industry leader bitcoin, fell to their lowest levels in months. 

Although bitcoin dipped below $6, per coin in early February , according to Market Watch, the price has since risen considerably. In fact, it climbed by more than 60% in the first weeks of February , finally climbing back above $10, (See more: Bitcoin Price Topped $10, Amid Cryptocurrency Rally.)

Who Is The Bitcoin Whale?

Apparently, the anonymous cryptocurrency trader who made a major investment in the currency imagines that this upward trend will continue. Nonetheless, bitcoin's price remains far below its all-time high of just under $20, per coin, attained late in

Who was the trader who made the astonishing investment? For the time being, his or her identity has been difficult or even impossible to surmise. "Not sure who that big buyer was, but many have bought this dip and have added since the rebound and additional regulatory clarity in the U.S. and Asia," said Tetras Capital founding partner Alex Sunnarborg.

The purchase was made between February 9 and February 12 of to an account associated with the bitcoin address 3Cbq7aT1tY8kMxWLbitaG7yT6bPbKChq64. That account has seen its bitcoin balance balloon from 55, BTC up to more than 96, BTC.

The actions of one anonymous trader may have an impact on the cryptocurrency industry at large. "The $ million whale is fuel for the Telegram channels where traders lay out their conspiracy theories," remarked Blockchain USA president Jeff Koyen.

Cryptocurrency bulls have begun to argue about the direction of the price of the world's top digital currency. If bitcoin continues to gain back value, the anonymous buyer could soon find him or herself in the crypto billionaire circle.

Investing in cryptocurrencies and other Initial Coin Offerings ("ICOs") is highly risky and speculative, and this article is not a recommendation by Investopedia or the writer to invest in cryptocurrencies or other ICOs. Since each individual's situation is unique, a qualified professional should always be consulted before making any financial decisions. Investopedia makes no representations or warranties as to the accuracy or timeliness of the information contained herein. As of the date this article was written, the author owns cryptocurrencies.

Cloud software company MicroStrategy announced today that it intends to buy an additional $ million in Bitcoin to add to the 92, BTC ($ billion) it already holds in its treasury. It also announced those Bitcoins will be held under a new subsidiary called MacroStrategy.

$ million would allow the firm to buy another 11, at the current price. To raise the money for the purchase, MicroStrategy is returning to its bag of tricks and selling bonds. Bonds are debt people can buy, with the promise of receiving back their principal and interest. In this case, institutions can purchase debt in MicroStrategy, which the company will then use to buy more Bitcoin, which it believes will increase in value (or at least hold its value better than dollars).

In this sale, MicroStrategy is issuing senior secured notes that will mature in In previous bond sales, MicroStrategy sold convertible senior notes. The basic difference is that convertible notes have an option to convert them into MSTR shares.

But if market data is any indication, investors may have soured on the firm's aggressive pursuit of Bitcoin, which has left it with little cash on hand. As Bloombergnotes: "The private placement is $23 million higher than the company’s entire operating cash flow since " MicroStrategy, ostensibly a cloud software and analytics company, has basically become a publicly traded Bitcoin fund.

The company's stock dipped 3% today on the news, settling at just below $ Its existing bonds took even larger hits on bond markets, declining in value by 9%. The $ million in convertible bonds it sold in February at $ are now down to $, according to data from Morningstar.

Bloomberg describes the corporate debt being issued for the latest Bitcoin buy as "junk bonds," meaning they're at a higher risk of defaulting. 

As if to underline the point that it's playing a high-risk game with a volatile asset, MicroStrategy posted SEC filings on its website today indicating that the company was taking an impairment loss of $ million "based on the fluctuations in market price of bitcoin during the second quarter of " Its total impairments are up to $ million, per Bloomberg. An impairment loss reduces the value of an asset on a company balance sheet to the lowest price that quarter, meaning MicroStrategy is now officially valued at less than it was last week.

The price of Bitcoin has plummeted from its all-time high of $63, on April 12 to roughly $35, today. While some of the impairment loss is due to arcane accounting rules, it's also obvious that MicroStrategy's Bitcoin bet is no longer as profitable as it once looked.

That said, on paper, it has paid off. According to MicroStrategy, it has purchased its Bitcoin at an average price of $24, per BTC. Even with Bitcoin's humdrum spring, MicroStrategy has made back over $1 billion in unrealized gains (before considering the tax implications).

But MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor isn't about to sell, the way Tesla sold some of its $ billion Bitcoin investment earlier this year in an effort, Elon Musk said, to prove Bitcoin's liquidity. Saylor has repeatedly made that clear, and made it clear again when he appeared on stage at the Bitcoin conference in Miami last weekend and hugged Bitcoin podcaster Max Keiser after Keiser screamed, "We're not selling! Fuck Elon!"

The publicly traded company already has an estimated 72% of its treasury in Bitcoin, making its stock the closest thing to a Bitcoin ETF on the U.S. market. With this additional purchase, it will further tie its fortunes to Bitcoin's. Expect more purchases to come. 

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