Enhances Speed and Scale of Asset Listings, Transfers, and Usage
NEW YORK — June 9th 2021 — Gemini, a crypto platform, today announced the acquisition of Shard X, a leading developer of secure multi-party computation (MPC) cryptographic technology. Gemini will integrate Shard X’s MPC technology into its distributed, multi-site key management and signing infrastructure, markedly increasing the speed with which Gemini can transfer customer assets and provide support for new asset listings and usage on the Gemini platform.
“Integrating MPC technology into our wallets will enable secure and faster crypto transfers that will help our customers keep pace with liquidity needs and market demands,” said Tyler Winklevoss, CEO of Gemini.
Gemini has more than $30 billion of crypto assets under custody, serving a range of individual and institutional customers. The addition of Shard X’s MPC will work in concert with all other aspects of Gemini’s custody offering, which includes role-based governance protocols, multiple layers of biometric access controls, and physical security to safeguard the sensitive key material, safely stored in government-rated hardware security modules (HSMs), that controls customers’ assets.
Shard X was founded in 2018 by Yaniv Neu-Ner, Nikita Lesnikov, and Navaho De Wet with the goal of making the crypto ecosystem more secure. Shard X’s MPC technology generates key fragments which are used in a distributed signing protocol without ever reconstructing a full private key. The team has developed a portable MPC implementation that aims to run in high-security environments, such as hardware security modules, ensuring the highest integrity and secure processing of private key fragments that protect digital assets.
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