Winklevoss Brothers Face Gemini Reset as Bitcoin Holdings Decline
In a striking contrast between public messaging and on-chain data, Gemini co-founder Tyler Winklevoss has recently expressed optimism about crypto market sentiment, even as his exchange undergoes a significant corporate reset and his family office appears to have been systematically reducing its Bitcoin holdings for over a year.
While Tyler Winklevoss has taken to social media and interviews to suggest that the current “bad” sentiment is a contrarian signal, blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence paints a different picture for Winklevoss Capital. On-chain tracking reveals the firm’s primary wallet has decreased its Bitcoin (BTC) position from approximately 23,000 BTC in February 2025 to under 11,000 BTC by February 2026—a reduction of more than half.
Financials Show Rising Costs Amid User Growth
Gemini’s latest regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) offers a mixed financial outlook. The company projected net revenue for 2025 between $165 million and $175 million, up from $141 million in 2024. It also reported about 600,000 monthly transacting users, a 17% year-on-year increase.
However, this user growth comes alongside sharply rising costs. Projected operating expenses have soared to a range of $520 million to $530 million for 2025, compared to $308 million the previous year. This dramatic expense increase underscores the financial pressure facing the exchange as it restructures.
Sharp Retreat from Global Markets and Leadership Shakeup
The financial and operational challenges have precipitated a swift and broad retreat. On February 5, Gemini announced it would cut up to 25% of its workforce and exit the United Kingdom, European Union, and Australian markets to concentrate resources on the U.S. and Singapore.
Less than two weeks later, the company parted ways with its Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Legal Officer. In an 8-K filing, Gemini confirmed that co-founder Cameron Winklevoss would absorb many of the COO’s duties, while interim executives filled the other vacated roles.
According to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter, Gemini’s global spot market share had collapsed to around 0.1% in January 2026, down from 0.6% in June 2025. Its market capitalization has also plummeted from nearly $4 billion at its public listing to under $700 million. The report added that additional U.S. staff had been let go as the company pivots toward a new Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)-regulated prediction markets platform, along with custody and credit card services.
Bleak Crypto Sentiment Amplifies Pressure
Gemini’s struggles are unfolding against a backdrop of profound pessimism across the cryptocurrency sector. Miner treasuries, such as those of Bitdeer, have been liquidated. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have experienced consistent outflows for five consecutive weeks. Sentiment gauges like the Crypto Fear & Greed Index have dipped into “extreme fear,” and Google search interest for “Bitcoin going to zero” reached its highest level since 2022.
Yet, a cohort of long-term investors continues to accumulate. Japan’s Metaplanet has aggressively expanded its BTC treasury, and Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), the largest corporate holder with 717,131 BTC, signaled its 100th purchase. High-frequency trader Arthur Hayes and macro analyst Lyn Alden also maintain bullish long-term positions, albeit with cautions about a potentially grinding market recovery.
This environment of deep bearishness makes Gemini’s extensive cost-cutting and strategic narrowing a survival maneuver, starkly at odds with the founder’s public “optimism.” The divergence between the Winklevoss Capital wallet’s sustained BTC sales and Tyler Winklevoss’s bullish rhetoric highlights the complex and often contradictory signals within a single crypto enterprise during a downturn.
