The cryptocurrency exchange Gemini continues to expand in Europe. They have now received new regulatory approvals in Greece and in Italy.
Approval received on November 3 and 7
Gemini has now officially committed registered as a virtual currency operator with the Italian payment services regulator the ‘Organismo Agenti E Mediatori’ (OAM).
The crypto exchange is also registered with the Greek Hellenic Capital Markets Commission (HCMC) as a custodian wallet provider and virtual currency exchange provider. According to official records, the OAM registration was issued on November 3, while the HCMC gave its approval to Gemini on November 7.
With the new registrations, Gemini is now officially allowed to offer its crypto services in Greece and Italy. The records also indirectly demonstrate that Gemini complies with applicable Greek and Italian anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regulations. Gemini has been active in more than 65 countries since November.
Gemini Earn and its additional problems
The latest registrations came before Gemini ran into major problems on its lending platform known as Gemini Earn, which is designed to allow investors to earn 8% interest by lending their cryptocurrency.
The product has reportedly stopped all withdrawals at the moment. This is due to its connection to troubled crypto trading company Genesis Global Capital, with Gemini reportedly holding $700 million in client funds.
According to the official Gemini status, Gemini Earn started having problems with deposits on November 16. This is just a few days after the first reports of FTX’s liquidity problems surfaced. As a result, the product is still unavailable, while all other Gemini services, including the exchange trading engine, Gemini Credit Card, and others, appear to be working normally.
Gemini Earn launched in 2021 in the United States (US), providing services through a partnership with Genesis Global Capital, which ceased operations on November 16 due to the ongoing FTX contamination. Gemini said the following in a tweet dated Nov. 21:
We continue to work with Genesis Global Capital, Earn’s lending partner, and parent company Digital Currency Group to find a solution for Earn users to repay their funds.
The crypto exchange reiterates that its client funds have remained safe at all times. Gemini is a full-reserve exchange & custodian. This means that all client money held on Gemini is held 1 to 1 and is available for withdrawal at any time, even if all clients do so at the same time.