Crypto Exchanges Have a Plan to Beat Binance: Play by the Rules

Coinbase, Kraken, and Gemini are embracing regulation. “We’re playing the long game,” says Cameron Winklevoss.

Illustration: Baptiste Virot for Bloomberg Businessweek
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In the wild world of cryptocurrency exchanges, one strategy never seemed to pay off: embracing regulation.

Take Gemini, started by twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. While it was plastering posters in New York subways a few years ago, declaring there was “Finally, a regulated place to buy, sell and store crypto,” an exchange called Binance—with no clear headquarters and a mysterious structure—quietly took the top spot among the world’s cryptocurrency exchanges.