Gem Is A Bitcoin API To Seamlessly Build Bitcoin Services With Bank-Grade Security

Meet Gem, a new bitcoin startup with a different take and a focus on developer tools. Gem provides a highly available, scalable API for bitcoin developers to abstract the bitcoin storing layer. In other words, Gem will store, encrypt and backup your users’ bitcoins so you don’t have to take care of this cumbersome aspect. The startup is launching today in private beta at TechCrunch Disrupt and is competing in the Battlefield competition.
‘Our platform allows you to create wallets based on multisignature technology and other technologies,’ co-founder and CEO Micah Winkelspecht told me in a phone interview before Disrupt. ‘It’s more secure than holding your own keys because we provide an extra layer of security.’
Gem’s storing approach is very reminiscent of Blockchain’s model, but Gem is all about providing a better developer API than Blockchain. Some services like Coinbase, Circle and others centralize everything and rely on passwords and two-factor authentication. When you send out bitcoins to these services, your bitcoins are actually stored in a master account. These startups know how many bitcoins you’re supposed to have. As Mt. Gox has shown us, these services can be compromised and startups are fighting back with insurances.

This post was published at Tech Crunch on September 8, 2014.