the alpha
- Brothers and Nifty Gateway co-founders Duncan and Griffin Cock Foster have announced they are stepping down from their leadership positions at the company.
- The news comes after (but not in response to) Gemini, the parent company of Nifty Gateway, announcing that it will cut 10 percent of its workforce.
- The Cock Foster brothers have no concrete plans for the future, but have expressed a desire to start another company.
- In an exclusive conversation with nft now, Duncan Cock Foster opened up about his and his brother’s decision to leave the company.
why does it matter
Big changes are coming for the prominent NFT platform nifty gateway (NG). After years of running the beloved market and driving innovation at the forefront of the NFT space, co-founders Duncan and Griffin Cock Foster Announced they would be giving up their leadership positions in the company.
Ownership now rests with parent company Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. The leadership torch has been passed to Eddie Ma (technical lead) and Tara Harris (non-tech lead).
Many were surprised by the announcement, speculating whether the move had to do with the state of the crypto and tech industries or even Gemini itself, which has been experiencing difficulties in response to a situation with your lending partner, Genesis Global Capital. However, Duncan says that this is not the case and that his and his brother’s decision was not a slight to Gemini in any way.
“We are entrepreneurs at heart and we want to be entrepreneurs again.”
duncan foster rooster
“There is no denying that the cryptocurrency and NFT markets are going through a tumultuous time right now, and Gemini is no exception. But betting against the Winklevoss twins is a terrible idea,” Duncan said in an interview with nft now. “They are in the top 0.01 percent of the most determined people in the world, and I am confident that Geminis will come out of this crypto winter stronger than ever. Our decision to leave was due to the fact that we are entrepreneurs at heart and we want to be entrepreneurs again.”
As mentioned above, the main factor behind Cock Foster’s decision to leave was simply that his time had come. In his Twitter thread, Duncan said that when Nifty Gateway was originally acquired, he and his brother gave themselves a four-year threshold before they inevitably left to start another company, regardless of how good or bad things were at that time. moment.
“Being founders, we knew that we always wanted to start another company at some point,” Duncan said. “I love the Gemini team and the Gemini mission, but being the founder of a company is a very different thing than running a division of a larger company, even if said larger company is one you love and respect. Ultimately, that’s what guided our decision more than anything else.”
Whats Next
According to Duncan’s thread, this transition has been in the works for months. And to assuage potential concerns from those within the NG community, he stated that he and his brother would publicly outline a roadmap and plan for his future in the coming weeks. Personally though, the Cock Foster brothers don’t know where they’re headed now.
“When we said that we don’t have any specific plans for the future, we meant it. We’ve worked in the cryptocurrency sector for a long time, and it’s the industry we know best, so the next company we start is likely to be in the cryptocurrency sector as well,” Duncan said. “We really don’t know for sure, and our only immediate plan is to get back to playing and exploring. The Winklevoss twins have told us they’re going to write a check for anything [our future company] that is to say, of that part we are sure.
While Duncan added that the only thing he currently has his sights on is learning to surf, he also noted that he and his brother will eventually return. Both remain very optimistic about the long-term viability of the NFT ecosystem.
“When Griffin and I reflect on the ecosystem now compared to the ecosystem in 2018 when we first got involved, it’s amazing how much progress has been made. Back then, only a handful of creators could make significant money selling NFTs; now thousands (and maybe even tens of thousands) of creators can do it,” he said. “Certainly, I think the road for NFTs to become a mainstream technology that most people use every day is longer and more tortuous than we originally thought, but we believe, and always have, that we’re going there.” industry is headed.”
