One of the largest crypto exchanges in the market, Gemini has got a major achievement under its belt; it has become the first virtual asset service provider (VASP) in Ireland. Owned by twin brothers Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, the exchange received the approval of the Central Bank of Ireland to provide its crypto trading services in the country.

Ireland gives the greenlight

On July 19th, Gemini made the announcement via a blog post that it had gotten the greenlight from the Central Bank of Ireland to operate as a VASP in the country. This registration makes Gemini the first crypto exchange to obtain a license to provide crypto trading services in Ireland.

According to the requirements of the CBI, any exchange that wants to offer crypto services in the country is registered as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP). As per the central bank’s requirements, the company has to comply with Counter-Terrorism Financing (CFT) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) guidelines.

Big milestone

Gillian Lynch, Gemini’s head of Europe and Ireland, also talked about the development and said that the exchange had undoubtedly reached a big milestone. Lynch said that the license would come in handy for the company’s expansion into Europe. Furthermore, she said that having this license would also help the exchange in boosting its customer confidence and also help in continuing its operation as a transparent and secure crypto service provider.

According to Lynch, it is essential to have a license and be regulated for boosting investor confidence. It reassures clients that the platform is safe for interacting with digital assets. She said that Ireland had a good crypto market due to which Gemini had also set up its headquarters in Dublin, Ireland.

The last year has seen crypto adoption rise rapidly in Ireland. 18% of the population has some form of exposure to crypto in one way or the other. More than 100 cryptocurrencies are supported on the Gemini exchange and it is expected that it would increase the number of crypto offerings with this expansion.

It is not surprising that Gemini is looking to expand to Europe, as other crypto exchanges are also doing the same in order to diversify their market. Two of the biggest crypto exchanges in the market, Coinbase, and Binance have also gotten licenses to offer their services in several European countries, such as France, Spain, Germany, and Italy.

Gemini’s troubles

However, Gemini is also facing a lot of problems due to the downtrend in the crypto market. The company had announced back in June that it was going to cut down its staff by 10%. Many other crypto companies like Coinbase have done the same due to the bear market.

However, it was recently discovered that the exchange is letting go more staff than originally planned. On top of the 10%, it is now laying off 7% of its workforce, which does not bode well for the exchange.