Word has just come in that cryptocurrency exchange Gemini received the requisite regulatory approval to add Litecoin trading to its platform. The boutique digital asset exchange founded by the Winklevoss twins will officially add support for the altcoin starting today, Oct. 13.
So is this new development going to act as a tailwind for the seventh most popular cryptocurrency in the world?
Well, it might, judging by how Litecoin has benefitted in the past from being listed by a major exchange. Remember how its price surged nearly 10 percent after Coinbase-owned GDAX added the altcoin to its trading platform? But then, as always, it would perhaps not be the best of moves to tow the speculative line right away.
Gemini Offers 4 New Trading Pairs
Eric Winer, Gemini’s vice president of engineering, published a blog post yesterday, Oct. 12, confirming that traders will be able to deposit Litecoin into their accounts starting today, 09:30 a.m. EST. Trading will commence on Oct. 16, Tuesday.
Gemini, which was launched in 2014, offers only three cryptos for trading up until now, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Zcash. With this new addition, Gemini users will now have four additional trading pairs to choose from:
- Litecoin (LTC) to Bitcoin (BTC)
- Litecoin (LTC) to Ethereum (ETH)
- Litecoin (LTC) to US dollar (USD)
- Zcash (ZEC) to Litecoin (LTC)
The addition of Litecoin comes after the exchange got the approval from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS) to go ahead with the new trading pairs. Winer noted in his blog post:
“The addition of Litecoin further solidifies Gemini’s standing as the go-to exchange for retail and institutional investors alike. Gemini continues to grow with a ‘security-first’ approach and we have worked closely with the NYSDFS to gain approval for Litecoin trading and custody services.”
Gemini Won’t Add Bitcoin Cash Support This Month
Winer also stated that there has been a temporary setback in Gemini’s plans for adding Bitcoin Cash (BCH) support. According to the vice president of engineering, the original plan was to “announce support for Bitcoin Cash today [Oct 12, 2018].”
However, he noted:
“[T]here has been much uncertainty lately within the Bitcoin Cash community about one or more possible hard forks arriving in mid-November.”
Because of this temporary setback, Gemini has delayed the launch of all BCH-related services, including trading, deposits, and withdrawals, until late November. Although Winer didn’t specify any date for such, he mentioned that soon after the hard fork, Gemini would carefully examine the Bitcoin Cash ecosystem before taking a final call.
