Gemini Halts MIT Hiring Amid Gensler's Return

Gemini Exchange Halts Hiring of MIT Graduates Amidst Gary Gensler's Return

In a bold move, Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder of the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange, announced that the company will cease hiring MIT graduates and interns. This decision comes in response to former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler's return to MIT as a professor and co-director of FinTechAI at the university's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.

Winklevoss stated, "As long as MIT has any association with Gary Gensler, Gemini will not hire any graduates from this school. Not even interns for our summer intern program." This move reflects the ongoing tension between the cryptocurrency industry and regulatory bodies, with Gemini taking a stand against Gensler's perceived hostility towards the sector.

MIT, ranked as the second-best university in the U.S., has been the alma mater of many prominent figures in the crypto sphere, including Devin Walsh, co-founder of Uniswap, Patrick Murck, co-founder of the Bitcoin Foundation, and Sam Bankman-Fried, former CEO of FTX. According to RootData, there are at least 54 projects in the crypto sphere founded by MIT alumni.

Gensler's return to MIT has sparked controversy within the crypto industry, with many players labeling him as antagonistic towards crypto due to his harsh stance on the sector during his tenure at the SEC. The SEC under Gensler's leadership was accused of waging war against the crypto industry by insisting that all tokens distributed fall under securities.

Gemini is not the first crypto firm to cut ties with institutions associated with former officials linked to the Biden Administration. In early December, Coinbase said it would stop working with firms that hire people linked to the Biden Administration's "bad deeds" after law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom hired ex-SEC chief Gurbir Grewal as a partner.

Crypto traders and industry leaders have expressed disappointment at Gensler's return to MIT, with UniSwap executive and MIT graduate Devin Walsh stating that she felt "incredibly embarrassed and disappointed" to see him rehired. Walsh also suggested that joining the program would be a waste of time, tuition funds, and energy for students hoping to learn about new technologies in the finance field.