Ever since the Gemini Bitcoin exchange launched, people have had high expectations for this platform. So far, trading volume is mediocre at best, which is less than impressive. But the company introduced a daily Bitcoin auction, which facilitates larger trades at lower costs. Whether or not this will help people discover Bitcoin prices, remains to be seen.
Every day of the week – including holidays and weekends – will be subject to a Bitcoin auction on Gemini. In the early stages, only Bitcoin-to-USD trading will be supported. Additional currencies will be added as time progress, depending on how successful this new venture will be. More importantly, all auction trades will be eligible for up to 0.15% rebate on trading fees.
Gemini Merges Traditional Trading Options With Bitcoin
Daily auctions are nothing new in the world of exchanges and stock markets. However, it is the first time such an offering becomes available to Bitcoin traders and investors. The ultimate goal is to make Bitcoin more appealing to mainstream consumers, traders, and investors. At the same time, Gemini wants to make cryptocurrency easier to use by retail and institutional investors.
Gemini CEO Tyler Winklevoss told the media:
“We believe this is the first-ever end-of-day bitcoin exchange auction. Auctions create greater price discovery and liquidity, resulting in a very meaningful final auction price. If you were building a securities exchange today, an auction would be a core feature.”
Keeping in mind how Bitcoin can be traded at all hours of the day, such an auction makes a lot of sense. However, buying cryptocurrency in a direct peer to peer fashion requires sellers to provide liquidity at all times. Gemini is focusing their attention on providing liquidity around the time traditional markets close for buyers and sellers.
The past few months have been kind to Gemini. After the company obtained its NY license in October 2015, the team expanded its presence to other countries. However, no numbers regarding the growth of active users are provided at this time. Looking at the trading volume on the charts, it appears there is still a lot of work to be done.
Source: Bloomberg
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