The New York State Department of Financial Services has approved the application of Gemini Trust Company, founded by investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, to trade digital currency ether on its bitcoin exchange, New York Governor Andre Cuomo announced on Thursday.
Cuomo said Gemini would be the first U.S.-based ether exchange, created and operated in New York.
Ether is a token or digital asset of the Ethereum platform, a public blockchain, or distributed ledger, that can execute peer-to-peer contracts automatically without the need for intermediaries. The blockchain is the underlying technology behind bitcoin.
Looks like Wall street is starting to dip their toes in the digital currency pond.
Here is some background on the Winklevoss twins in case you were not up to speed:
They are known for co-founding HarvardConnection (later renamed ConnectU) along with Harvard University classmate Divya Narendra. In 2004 the Winklevoss brothers sued Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, claiming he stole their ConnectU idea to create the popular social networking site, and ultimately received $65 million.
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-winklevoss-ether-idUSKCN0XW1SZ