Gemini appoints new CFO, stokes rumors about upcoming IPO

Leading cryptocurrency exchange and custodian platform, Gemini has hired a new chief financial officer in the person of Dan Chen. The announcement was made via Chen’s X account (formerly Twitter) on Monday, March 17, 2025. 

Before joining Gemini, Chen was the Vice President of Capital Markets and Bank Partnerships at Affirm, a leading American technology company that provides financial services for shoppers and merchants.

According to Chen, he was able to grow access to secured funding to $20 billion. His addition to Gemini signifies many things to come, especially rumors of an impending initial public offering (IPO).

In the announcement, Chen said, “I’m looking forward to helping Gemini scale by driving financial strategy as the company enters its next phase of growth.”

I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve joined @Gemini as its Chief Financial Officer. I will be working alongside @cameron and @tyler and the incredible team at Gemini to unlock the next era of personal, financial, and creative freedom.

Crypto is the most dynamic sector in finance…

— Dan Chen (@danchen13) March 17, 2025

Reports of an impending Gemini IPO

The cryptocurrency firm led by the billionaire pair of the Winklevoss twins was in the news earlier this month with reports on them filing for an IPO according to Bloomberg, which claimed that the information was shared by people close to the matter. The news outlet reported that Gemini is working with Citigroup Inc. and Goldman Sachs Inc. to get the offering done.

In a report in February, the cofounders mentioned that they were weighing the option of an IPO. This is also coming off the back of an SEC investigation closure, which according to Cameron Winklevoss in a post, closed with no action. However, the SEC said that the notice shouldn’t be construed as an exoneration or that no action will be taken as a result of SEC investigation.

Regulators and litigations

Highlighting the cost of the SEC investigation, Cameron said, “The SEC cost us tens of millions of dollars in legal bills alone and hundreds of millions in lost productivity, creativity, and innovation. Of course Gemini is not alone.”

He added that the SEC’s behavior has caused immense loss in economic growth in America.

However, Gemini had to pay out $5 million in settlement in a separate lawsuit with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which was filed due to false and misleading statements of facts or omitting such facts when it sought to launch a Bitcoin futures contract in 2017.

This isn’t Gemini’s first brush with the law as regulators at the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) mandated it to pay $1.1 billion to customers of its defunct lending program and also a fine of $37 million to the NYDFS. This was due to its lending program, Gemini Earn, which it ran in partnership with Genesis Global Capital, a crypto lender. The program came crashing during the crypto market crash of 2022, which led to Genesis declaring bankruptcy.

However, the regulators came in and declared that Gemini take responsibility and reimburse the Earn program users.

Gemini and other crypto stakeholders are plugged into the White House

The Winklevoss brothers are also known Republicans and supporters of President Donald Trump. The brothers donated heavily to his campaign and were part of the select few crypto executives and heads of agencies who attended the Digital Assets Summit at The White House.

The Trump administration has embraced crypto, with the president announcing plans to create a national reserve for Bitcoin, having launched his own TRUMP memecoin earlier in the year. It’s not strange why the regulatory regime has favored those in the crypto space, unlike it did under President Biden’s tenure.

This is ushering in what some analysts are calling the golden age of crypto, with other companies like Bullish, Kraken, and Circle all dropping hints of their own future IPOs.

This isn’t the first instance of a crypto company launching an IPO, as Coinbase did in 2021, but in a slightly untraditional fashion.

With Chen’s wealth of experience in leading businesses to IPO, it’s not hard to see how his experience contributes to an IPO that looks increasingly likely in Gemini’s future and maybe for other crypto companies as well.

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