Tyler Winklevoss, CEO at digital asset firm Gemini, recently noted that the company is pleased to confirm that they have completed the acquisition of Shard X, a developer of secure multi-party computation (MPC) cryptographic technology.
As mentioned in the announcement, Gemini will be integrating Shard X’s MPC tech into their distributed, multi-site key management and signing infrastructure, which should help with enhancing the speed with which they transfer customer assets and offer support for new asset listings and “usage on the Gemini platform.”
The update from the crypto firm also mentioned that Gemini has over $30 billion of digital assets under custody, and currently serves both individual and institutional clients. The announcement further noted that the addition of Shard X’s MPC will “work in concert with all other aspects of Gemini’s custody offering, which includes role-based governance protocols, multiple layers of biometric access controls, and physical security to safeguard the sensitive key material, safely stored in government-rated hardware security modules (HSMs), that controls customers’ assets.”
As explained in the update, Shard X, which will become “a part of Gemini’s UK affiliate,” was established back in 2018 by Yaniv Neu-Ner, Nikita Lesnikov, and Navaho De Wet with the aim of “making the crypto ecosystem more secure.”
As noted by Winklevoss, Shard X’s MPC tech generates “key fragments” that are used in a distributed signing protocol “without ever reconstructing a full private key.” The team has created “a portable MPC implementation that aims to run in high security environments, such as hardware security modules, ensuring the highest integrity and secure processing of private key fragments that protect digital assets.”
The update confirmed that the acquisition of Shard X is “yet another step forward in providing our customers with the products and services they demand as we remain laser focused on our mission of empowering the individual through crypto.”