Industry groups and exchanges said the United Kingdom’s slow, overlapping crypto rules and compliance frictions are undermining its “global hub” ambition. Gemini’s decision to exit the United Kingdom, European Union and Australia to focus on the United States and Singapore has sharpened questions over whether the UK’s still unfinished rulebook is deterring even well‑regulated players the government hoped to attract. In April 2022, then Chancellor Rishi Sunak said it was his “ambition to make the UK a global hub for cryptoasset technology,” unveiling Treasury measures, such as stablecoin regulation, and launching a Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) “CryptoSprint” to help firms invest in the country. However, in Gemini’s latest strategy update on Thursday, the exchange said many foreign markets were “hard to win,” with expansion leaving it “stretched thin” and burdened by organizational complexity, driving up costs. Read more
Gemini, a US-based cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2015, will focus on growth in the United States due to its deep capital markets. Crypto exchange Gemini announced its exit from the United Kingdom, European Union and Australia markets on Thursday, as the company slashed its workforce by 25%. Gemini cited artificial intelligence automating labor and making engineers “100x” more efficient, and a more challenging business environment in the UK, EU and Australia, as reasons for the exit, according to Thursday’s announcement: “We don’t have the demand in these regions to justify them. The reality is that America has the world’s greatest capital markets,” the announcement said. Read more
The SEC was satisfied with Gemini’s agreement to contribute $40 million toward the full recovery of Gemini Earn investors’ assets lost as a result of the Genesis bankruptcy. The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s civil lawsuit against Gemini Trust Company and Genesis Global Capital in the Earn-related unregistered securities case has been dismissed with prejudice. Court filings show the parties submitted a joint stipulation to dismiss the action on Friday in the US District Court in the Southern District of New York, effectively ending the SEC’s claim over Gemini’s crypto lending program with Genesis. A federal judge still needs to sign off on the joint stipulation to dismiss. The dismissal comes about nine months after the SEC paused the civil action in April 2024 when then-acting chairman Mark Uyeda was leading the agency. The SEC was content with the dismissal based on a 100% in-kind return of Gemini Earn investors’ crypto assets through the Genesis bankruptcy case in mid-2024 and Gemini agreeing to c...
Philippine regulators are tightening control over crypto access, signaling that global exchanges must secure local licenses to operate. Internet service providers (ISPs) in the Philippines began blocking major crypto trading platforms as regulators moved to enforce local licensing rules on crypto service providers. Users reported that as of Tuesday, access to global cryptocurrency exchanges Coinbase and Gemini was unavailable in the Philippines. Cointelegraph independently confirmed that both platforms were inaccessible across multiple local ISPs. A report by the Manila Bulletin said the ISP blocks followed an order from the National Telecommunications Commission, which directed providers to restrict access to 50 online trading platforms flagged by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank, as operating without authorization. Read more
An affiliate of the crypto exchange Gemini received a designated contract market license and it now plans to offer prediction markets in the US. Crypto exchange Gemini, founded by billionaire twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, has scored a license from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to offer prediction markets in the US. Gemini said on Wednesday that its affiliate, Gemini Titan, received a designated contract market license from the CFTC and “plans to enter into the prediction markets space.” The company said that “starting shortly,” its US users would be able to trade event contracts on its web platform. Gemini also said it would expand its US derivatives offerings to include crypto futures, options and perpetual contracts. Read more