The Winklevoss twins are doubling down on Chicago.
Gemini, a New York-based cryptocurrency exchange led by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, has signed a long-term lease at 1 S. Wacker Dr. in the Loop, according to sources familiar with the deal. The company leased around 17,000 square feet and plans to move in by August.
Gemini plans to hire 100 people in Chicago, according to a source. A Gemini spokesperson declined to comment, but the company has around 100 job postings currently in Chicago.
Founded in 2014, Gemini is a digital currency exchange that allows people to buy, sell and store bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. It first opened a Chicago outpost in 2019, working out of a coworking space.
Gemini raised $400 million in funding last November at a more than $7 billion valuation.
The new office expands the firm's local footprint at a time when crypto momentum in Chicago is heating up. CoinFlip, a Chicago bitcoin ATM operator, announced last year plans to move into a 44,000-square-foot headquarters in the Old Post Office. FTX, a crypto exchange based in the Bahamas, established its U.S. headquarters in Chicago with an office in the West Loop. The firm, which ran a Super Bowl ad this year starring Larry David, plans to open a long-term office in the neighborhood that will house between 80 to 100 employees over the next two years.
Chicago is also home to Jump Capital, a VC firm from Jump Trading, which last year announced a new blockchain investing division called Jump Crypto. Chicago-based Decasonic, led by tech veteran Paul Hsu, announced in January a new $48.8 million fund to back blockchain and Web3 startups. And Sfermion, led by Chicagoan Andrew Steinwold, raised a $100 million fund that's focused on NFTs and the metaverse. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are investors in Sfermion.
CBRE Group Inc.'s Brad Serot and Tony Coglianese represented Gemini in the transaction. Coglianese declined to comment on the deal but said the string of new crypto firms and funds in Chicago will "continue to funnel the next wave of blockchain innovation in our city for years to come."
"Crypto firms have focused on Chicago, with six leases totaling over 125,000 square feet in the last six months with no signs of stopping," he said.
Since first opening up shop in Chicago three years ago, Gemini has established other connections to the city's startup scene. Its VC arm invested in EarlyBird, a Chicago startup that lets families set up investment accounts for their children. And last year Gemini announced that it's working with Climate Vault, a nonprofit founded at the University of Chicago, to purchase carbon permits and reduce its carbon footprint.
