Gemini, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, has received the necessary crypto admission to begin offering its services to French customers. On Wednesday, Gemini revealed that it had been registered as a Digital Asset Service Provider (DASP) in France by the Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF), France’s markets regulator. The company expects to finalise its preparations in the coming days and open up its entire platform to retail and institutional clients in France.
The customers have much to look forward to- For instance, Gemini’s more advanced ActiveTrader platform will be available to French consumers, allowing them to trade more than 70 cryptocurrencies on the website and mobile app.
The U.S. has been criticised in some quarters for its hard-knuckled stance against the cryptocurrency industry. This has seen major U.S. crypto companies turn to the EU to grow their operations. Gemini itself has certainly felt the weight of “regulatory highhandedness”-last year, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed charges against the company for what it said was the sale of unregistered securities related to Gemini Earn, a premium savings product. Gemini strongly disputes the claims and is presently pursuing the dismissal of the case. However, the industry recently got a milestone win following the approval of Bitcoin ETFs in the US.
Notably, however, Gemini will have to bear with Europe’s own strict regulatory scrutiny. The company has entered France ahead of the impending activation of the groundbreaking Markets in Crypto-Assets law (MiCA), widely recognised as the first comprehensive regulation for crypto assets. MiCA is a piece of legislation that opens up the European Union to crypto firms holding a licence in a single member nation. Many players in the crypto industry have praised MiCA for providing a clearer regulatory framework. This will likely see more companies set up shop in Europe, possibly to the detriment of the US market.
This post was last modified on Jan 17, 2024, 17:40 GMT 17:40