Co-founders of the NFT auction platform Nifty Gateway, Duncan and Griffin Cock Foster, announced their resignations on January 25 in a Twitter thread.
Twin brothers Duncan and Griffin Cock Foster, co-founders of the NFT platform Nifty Gateway, owned by Gemini, are leaving the company and resigning from their positions. Their resignations took effect right away.
“Griffin and I are founders at heart, and we want to start another company.” Duncan said in defence of their decision.
“When @Gemini acquired NG in 2019, Griffin and I said if everything went amazing and we loved it, we would stay for 4 years before starting another company. We ended up staying the max amount of time we originally thought possible, which shows how great this experience was!”
The decision was made in the midst of a legal dispute between Genesis Global, a defunct cryptocurrency lender, and Gemini, the parent company of Nifty Gateway. Genesis Global allegedly owes $900 million to its subscribers as part of the Gemini Earn program after Genesis Global stopped withdrawals in November 2020 due to “exceptional market conditions.”
Gemini purchased the NFT auction platform in 2019 after it was founded in 2018. Despite challenging business conditions at the parent company, Duncan claimed that the company “is in good hands” and that they had “been preparing for this transition for months.” He wrote, “Cameron [Winklevoss] and Tyler Winklevoss are visionaries who saw the potential in NFTs well before almost anyone else. Under their leadership, Nifty Gateway will continue to thrive.”
Eddie Ma will replace Tara Harris as the “technical leader” during the changeover, and Tara Harris will take over as the “leader” for non-tech.
“We know that transitions can create uncertainty around the future. To that end, in the coming weeks, we will publicly outline a roadmap and a plan for the future of Nifty. After we depart we will stay connected to the mission in an advisory role to ensure continuity.”
Gemini cut staff earlier this week as a result of the Genesis problems. In the third wave since June, the firm reduced its workforce by 10%. Gemini fired additional employees the next month after reducing their employment by 10% in June 2022. As a result, from 1,100 at the beginning of 2022 to about 700 individuals by the end of the year, the company’s entire headcount decreased.
