Bittrex Along With 2 Other Major Exchanges Partner with Gemini to Form Virtual Commodity Association

A new report from Bloomberg reveals that Bittrex along with 2 other major cryptocurrency exchanges have joined the Winklevoss twins’ Gemini exchange to form the Virtual Commodity Association. These exchanges will be teaming up in an effort to better police the $214 billion cryptocurrency industry.

“Created by Gemini Trust co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the Virtual Commodity Association expanded its roster of exchange participants to include Bitstamp, BitFlyer USA and Bittrex, according to a statement Monday,” Bloomberg reports. “Representatives from the four marketplaces will meet for the first time in September to discuss setting up the self-regulatory organization.”

Since the recent denial of their proposed Bitcoin ETF Listing, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss have become an even greater driving force in developing the cryptocurrency industry. The twins have reportedly been developing a very tight relationship with the Nasdaq exchange, and last week, news broke that Gemini would likely be partnering with Nasdaq to form a joint venture that will allow Nasdaq to list top market coins for global trading.

An anonymous source told The ICO Journal:

“Tyler and Cameron have moved the ball down the field in a meaningful way. Nasdaq, and its leadership, already are predisposed to finding an architecture solution and being the first to list actual tokens. Not just ETF’s or futures or some ‘derivative’ of the crypto aparatus…but rather list actual coins. They are getting very comfortable with the structures they’ve seen from Gemini, and the other research they’ve done with exchanges of note. There is a timeline forming for this decision and it could be earlier than some might think.”

The new partnerships made in the Virtual Commodity Association are intended to help promote transparency in the cryptocurrency market through direct communication with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commissions. The group members will be focusing specifically on preventing fraud and price manipulation in the cryptocurrency market. These initiatives come in direct response to concerns raised by the SEC following their ruling to deny the proposed Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF last month.

In related news, the Virtual Commodity Association named Maria Filipakis as its interim executive director today. Filipakis previously worked for the New York Department of Financial Services to create New York’s state cryptocurrency permit, BitLicense.

“The CFTC, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulators heavily rely on self-regulatory organizations to monitor trading in everything from obscure swaps to shares in the biggest U.S. companies,” reports Bloomberg. “Currently, no federal regulator has direct authority over the cadre of exchanges that trade cryptocurrencies in the spot market. Instead, there’s a patchwork of state laws serving as the legal framework that critics say invites abuse and potential manipulation.”

A recent statement by CFTC Commissioner Brian Quintenz expressed a great deal of optimism towards the new partnerships formed by the Virtual Commodity Association. Quintenz has consistently called for the cryptocurrency community to work together in developing a self-regulatory organization.

“Given the absence of federal oversight jurisdiction in the crypto market, in February and again in March of this year I called on the crypto platform community to come together and develop a self-regulatory organization-like entity that could develop and enforce rules,” said Quintenz. “Today’s announcement is a positive step towards that realization.”

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