Flexa and Gemini Partner to Make it Easy to Use Cryptocurrency

We are excited to announce another major step forward as we build the future of money: our partnership with Flexa, a global cryptocurrency payments network that enables major retailers to accept cryptocurrency payments in stores. Launching today, consumers can now easily spend their Gemini dollars (GUSD), bitcoin, ether, and bitcoin cash using the SPEDN mobile wallet app. (SPEDN is available in the iOS Apple store).

In addition, all cryptocurrency you deposit on the SPEDN mobile app is custodied with Gemini, providing security for those using this new payment technology.

The Flexa cryptocurrency payments network has the potential to transform the payments industry, providing everyday use cases for spending your crypto, which hasn’t been a practical reality until now. The majority of cryptocurrency activity to date has been comprised of the “buy,” “sell,” and “store” use case — investors looking to purchase a piece of the networks and protocols of the future. This has helped bootstrap crypto networks and create liquidity and price discovery (i.e., helping foster efficient and healthy markets), however, tangible use cases are the next step in the story of crypto’s promise.

Flexa’s payment solution provides users the ability to engage in the “spend” use case and benefit from the freedom, privacy, and security provided by cryptocurrency. Additionally, the Gemini dollar allows you to spend your dollars on the blockchain without worrying about price volatility.

More broadly speaking, this is exciting for cryptocurrency users and our community as a whole. At Gemini, we have been trying to build a bridge from the island of crypto to the mainland of finance for the past five years. Flexa’s mission is to link the island of crypto to the mainland of retail merchants. Together, by providing Flexa with trusted custody and infrastructure, we hope to profoundly improve the payment experience; and merchants who are currently subject to overly complex, expensive legacy systems of credit and debit cards stand to benefit significantly.

In fact, major retailers pay billions of dollars each year in processing costs (costs that are often borne at least in part by the consumer). With Flexa, merchants (i) get significantly less expensive and fraud-resistant transactions, (ii) can use the same payment hardware they currently use, and (iii) receive payment in fiat currency, not crypto. We believe that not only will this result in cost-savings to the merchant, but to the consumer in the long-term as well.

We are excited to work with Flexa to connect the crypto payment rails to the offline world. Our respective firms share the same mission and values — working to build the future of money. The Flexa offering, and its support of Gemini dollar, is another step towards a more efficient, cost-effective, and fairer global financial system. We’re excited for all that’s ahead. Don’t just HODL, SPEDN!

Onward and Upward,

Tyler Winklevoss (CEO) and the Gemini Team in partnership with Flexa