The Winklevoss twins’ Gemini Foundation, a non-US derivatives platform, has finally gone live for customers in 29 jurisdictions across the globe. The move comes amid regulatory hurdles in the United States, where the company has faced legal action from regulators. The new service aims to target both retail and institutional traders but will exclude users from the UK and EU.
Asia Pivot: Gemini Sets up a New Engineering Hub in India
In addition to the launch of a new division, Gemini has also pivoted to Asia. After Singapore’s expansion, the company announced plans to set up a new engineering hub in Gurgaon, India. The newly-formed team will develop next-generation web and mobile user experience and introduce feature sets for NFT and crypto marketplaces. Institutional and retail clients could use the products and features developed in India in over 70 nations.
At launch, Gemini Foundation will offer BTC perpetual contracts denominated in Gemini dollars (GUSD) with up to 100x leverage. In the coming weeks, the platform also plans to launch ETH/GUSD perpetual contracts. Traders around the world have highly anticipated Gemini’s new derivatives platform.
Regulatory Headwinds in the US
Since its founding in 2014, Gemini has worked with regulators in the United States. A year after launch, Gemini received a trust charter from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). However, in 2022, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sued the company, alleging that it made “false and misleading statements” to deploy the first US-regulated Bitcoin futures contract in 2017. The SEC also charged Gemini alongside Genesis with the unregistered offer and sale of securities, aiming at Gemini Earn, the yield-bearing product thousands of US investors entrusted with their crypto.
The launch of Gemini’s non-US derivatives platform marks a crucial stage for the company as it joins the bandwagon of crypto firms taking their business elsewhere. Despite the hurdles, the Winklevoss twins have expressed their hope of launching a derivatives product in the United States. With its new offerings, Gemini is set to become a game changer in the crypto derivatives space.