By
Steve Muchoki
April 9th, 2024
The exchange, founded by the Winklevoss twins, has unveiled a new option to enable its clients instantly trade their digital funds via the platform.
The New York-based bitcoin exchange Gemini has announced the introduction of zero-confirmation pre-credited cryptocurrency deposits. The feature will allow users to immediately trade their funds without waiting hours for the first confirmation.
The move is aimed at reducing deposit delays that have often been a problem for bitcoin users. With the growing volume of bitcoin transactions and fixed network capacity, it can take much longer time for the transactions to be confirmed.
“At Gemini, we pride ourselves on helping you move your money faster,” said Eric Winer, VP of engineering at Gemini. “Our unique Instant ACH system lets US-based customers deposit U.S. dollars and trade immediately, a process that used to take up to a week.”
“Last year, we decreased the required number of Bitcoin confirmations for deposits from six to three. And we continue to have industry-leading turnaround times for U.S. dollar wire deposits and withdrawals,” Winer said.
With the new feature, Gemini will start crediting customers before the confirmation has occurred on the blockchain.
As the company explained, it will use a proprietary fee algorithm to find out the likelihood of each deposit to be confirmed. If it meets the criteria, the company will pre-credit the amount of the transaction in the customer’s account, thus making it available for trading.
Users will be able to sell bitcoin for USD or ether much more quickly and efficiently. Furthermore, the company will let customers to take part in Gemini’s daily two-sided auction without delays.
After a deposit gets three confirmations, users will be able to withdraw the amount of the deposit or any USD or ether acquired with the deposit.
In addition to the zero-confirmation deposits feature, the company also introduced some changes to their Instant ACH deposit option, Winer wrote. “Instant ACH is one of our most popular features, and after listening to your comments and feedback over the last year, we’ve made some changes to how we calculate your “Available for Withdrawal” balance. We think you’ll find the new system much more sensible — especially if you make frequent deposits and trades,” he said.
The new feature is one of the latest moves the company have taken to attract more customers. Not long ago, Gemini announced the expansion to Japan and the Republic of Korea as part of its strategy to build a global next generation bitcoin exchange.
The company is committed to provide an increased level of security for its clients. A few days ago, it published a blog post encouraging its users to switch to the Authy app for two-factor authentication (2FA) instead of using SMS. As Gemini noted, the app significantly reduces the risk of hacker attack.
Founded in 2015, Gemini is among the few companies that were granted a virtual currency and money transmitter license by the New York Department of Financial Services. Just two weeks ago, one of the major bitcoin firms, Coinbase, also got the department’s approval.