The Gemini exchange, founded by the Winklevoss twins, decided on Malta as its MiCA-compliant European hub. The exchange received its sixth European license from the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) back in December 2024.
According to the MFSA’s Financial Services Register, Gemini’s ‘class 3’ VFA Service Provider license authorized the exchange to provide six services. Gemini can now offer transfer services, custodian or nominee services, virtual financial assets placement, order transmission and reception, own account dealing, and order execution on behalf of users under Maltese crypto regulations.
Gemini’s announcement emphasized that its choice of Malta – over the previously considered Dublin – as its European hub was primarily driven by the country’s proactive approach to crypto regulations. Malta supported innovation among digital asset companies and fintech, preventing an ideal environment for the exchange’s European operations.
Gemini’s decision represents its commitment to regulatory standards
Ireland has missed out on a significant crypto regulatory base.
Gemini (Winklevoss twins) has chosen Malta as its Mica reg hub, despite its EU hq actually being in Dublin.
Maybe related: Irish Central Bank has delayed key regulatory moves here.https://t.co/KamSs2uqSJ
— Adrian Weckler (@adrianweckler) January 20, 2025
Mark Jennings, head of Europe at Gemini, agreed that MiCA was a very much-needed regulatory development for the European crypto community. He expressed his enthusiasm about MiCA serving as a blueprint for global crypto regulations.
MiCA’s introduction prompted all crypto companies to assess their products’ compliance within the EU bloc. As per Gemini’s statement, it reached the decision to make Malta its MiCA hub after the European regulations were fully implemented at the end of last year.
Jennings, however, clarified that Gemini had yet to receive the MiCA license from the Maltese regulators. He added that to be able to achieve a MiCA license, a crypto firm either had to file a brand new license application, or wait for the transition period with existing VASP licenses where the company would uplift to MiCA.
The initial phase of the regulations covering stablecoins came into effect mid-2024 but broader crypto transactions were brought under its scope towards the year’s end. Many exchanges have so far delisted non-compliant stablecoins, while others like Gemini were busy designating their preferred operational hubs.
“Our decision to establish Malta as our MiCA hub reflects our commitment to upholding regulatory standards, advancing innovation, and shaping the future of digital assets in Europe.”
According to the finance magnate, additional MiCA rules were likely to impact third-party crypto vendors indirectly. Gemini was also focusing on its Asian expansion after gaining in-principle approval from MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) in October 2024.
MiCA’s clarity extends to custodial services as stablecoin uncertainty persists
Jennings said organizing for compliant custodial services infrastructure was among the key elements of Gemini’s MiCA compliance. The requirements included tracking and ensuring unified onboarding processes met regulatory standards, added the executive. Gemini had different customer onboarding requirements in Spain, France, and Italy prior to making Malta its European hub. Jennings explained that MiCA had enabled the exchange to build a scalable solution supporting the whole of the EU.
According to Jennings, allocating resources to be able to build the necessary infrastructure to support MiCA was the biggest hurdle. However, he saw it as an opportunity, not a challenge. The biggest point for exchanges across the world was how to build locally compliant custody offerings. Jennings clarified that there were a lot of infrastructure requirements to do that.
Gemini saw Europe shifting away from fragmented regulations as MiCA brought in more transparency and resilience, said Jennings. The executive said that, from Gemini’s perspective, MiCA brought some regulatory certainty to customers who required it. He, however, admitted that there was still confusion about how MiCA treated some stablecoins despite growing certainty regarding EU crypto regulations.
According to on-chain analyst and market watcher JA Maartunn, Ripple’s RLUSD was leading the charge in Europe’s MiCA era. The delisting of Tether’s stablecoins in Europe opened up a space for MiCA-compliant stablecoins like the RLUSD, added the CryptoQuant contributor.
Stablecoins like Circle’s USDC received MiCA approval last year.
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