The Winklevoss brothers’ Gemini cryptocurrency exchange continues to expand in Europe, announcing new regulatory approvals in Italy and Greece.
Gemini has registered as a virtual currency operator with Italian payment services regulator Organismo Agenti E Mediatori (OAM), which the company announced on Nov. 30.
The cryptocurrency exchange has also received registration as a custodial wallet provider and a virtual currency exchange service provider with the Hellenic Capital Markets Commission (HCMC).
Officially, the OAM registration was issued on November 3rd, and HCMC granted clearance to Gemini on November 7th.
The new registrations, combined with the Central Bank of Ireland’s Gemini e-money authorization, formally allow the exchange to provide crypto-currency services to its customers in Italy and Greece. The permits also aim to demonstrate Gemini’s compliance with applicable Italian and Greek anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regulations.
As of November 2022, Gemini operates in more than 65 countries, including new jurisdictions such as Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden and others, the firm said. .
The latest registrations came before Gemini ran into serious trouble with its lending platform, known as Gemini Earn, which is designed to allow investors to earn 8% per annum by lending their cryptocurrency. The product has reportedly put withdrawals on hold due to its association with troubled cryptocurrency trading firm Genesis Global Capital, which allegedly has $700 million of client money locked up with Gemini.
According to Gemini’s status, Gemini Earn began having deposit problems on Nov. 16, days after initial reports of FTX liquidity problems surfaced. At the time of writing, the product remains unavailable while all other Gemini services, including the exchange trading mechanism, the Gemini credit card, and others, are operating as normal.
Gemini Earn was launched in 2021 in the United States and provided services through a partnership with Genesis Global Capital, which stopped withdrawals on November 16 due to ongoing FTX infection.
“We continue to work with Earn’s lending partner Genesis Global Capital and its parent Digital Currency Group to find a solution for Earn users to redeem their funds,” Gemini said in a Nov. 21 tweet.
Related: U.S. Regulators Investigate Genesis and Other Crypto Firms
On November 29, Gemini also tweeted about the Gemini Trust Center, assuring its customers that their account assets are separate from Gemini assets. “Gemini is a full-back exchange and custodian. This means that all customer funds held on Gemini are held 1:1 and available for withdrawal at any time.
As previously reported, Gemini was one of the exchanges hit by the ongoing crypto bear market, with up to 20% staff cut this year. The exchange is also among the platforms targeted by the US Senate Finance Committee as part of a request for information on customer protection measures in the wake of the FTX collapse.
