Customers have been begun receiving instructions for onboarding and will be able to officially begin trading on the Gemini exchange starting Thursday, October 8 at 9:30 a.m. EST.

The nine months it took for Gemini to go from announcement to launch is due to a belief in the need to "ask for permission, not forgiveness." However, on September 23, Gemini Trust Company received approval for its Articles of Organization and was further granted an exemption from the deposit insurance requirements of Section 32 of the Banking Law.

Due to its corporate structure as a limited liability trustcompany (LLTC), it is able to service both individual and institutional customers, which is important because many believe that banks are curious about trading bitcoin.

"The reality is that institutions will bring the most amount of capital to the exchange," Cameron Winklevoss, president of Gemini Trust Company, told Bitcoin Magazine in an interview and demo. "Every major bank in the world has people looking at bitcoin."

The downside of being an LLTC is that the company itself cannot provide FDIC insurance for its accounts. That being said, Gemini revealed at launch that Signature Bank, based in New York, was one of its primary partner banks that would hold all fiat currency transferred to Gemini. Through Signature, the fiat currency is eligible for FDIC insurance.