Announcing the news on Wednesday, crypto exchange and custodian Gemini said Shard X’s multi-party computation (MPC) technology would help increase the speed at which it can transfer customer assets and increase usage of assets on its platform. “Integrating Shard X’s MPC technology into Gemini’s custody enables us to meet the current demand for fast withdrawals, interacting with DeFi staking, or the transferring of digital assets with greater efficiency,” Gemini COO Noah Perlman told the crypto news outlet The Block.

Crypto exchange acquires startup Shard X.

MPC is a cryptographic technology, which is believed to be fast and more secure. In MPC, private keys are never constructed in full, removing a single point of failure. MPC breaks up private keys into shards or parts and distributes them to execute a transaction between various parties. Shard X’s technology uses MPC technology on Entrust nShield hardware security modules (HSMs), and the firm claims to provide benefits of both these technologies – accessibility of “hot” or online wallets and security of “cold” of offline storage. 

Shard X was founded in 2018.

Shard X was founded in 2018 by Yaniv Neu-Ner, Nikita Lesnikov, and Navaho De Wet in London. With Gemini’s acquisition, all three members, i.e., Shard X’s entire headcount, will be joining Gemini’s UK affiliate. However, Perlman declined to disclose the deal’s financial terms, including whether this was equity, cash, or a mix of both. But he mentioned that the deal was advised by an internal strategy team that focuses on mergers and acquisitions. After buying NFT marketplace Nifty Gateway in 2019 and crypto credit card firm Blockrize earlier this year, this completes crypto exchange Gemini’s third acquisition.