Gemini

Gemini is a US crypto exchange founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and launched publicly in October 2015. Gemini Trust Company, LLC operates under a limited purpose trust company charter granted by the New York State Department of Financial Services, making it a fiduciary under New York banking law rather than a typical offshore exchange. That charter requires Gemini to hold customer assets on a full-reserve, segregated basis and to meet capital requirements.

In September 2025, Gemini went public on the Nasdaq under the ticker GEMI, pricing its IPO at $28 a share and raising $425 million at a valuation of roughly $3.3 billion. It was the third US-listed crypto exchange after Coinbase and Bullish.

Gemini's core license is the NYDFS trust charter, which also underpins its US money transmitter licenses in dozens of states. In August 2025, Gemini obtained a MiCA license from Malta's Financial Services Authority, which would have let it passport crypto services across the EEA.

That EU push did not last. In February 2026, Gemini announced it is exiting the UK, EU/EEA and Australian markets entirely to focus on the US and Singapore, citing weak traction. New account creation and incentive programs in those markets were disabled by early March 2026, existing accounts moved to withdrawal-only status from March 5, 2026, and all customer accounts in those regions closed on April 6, 2026. Anyone reading older reviews or offer terms that list the UK, EU countries or Australia as supported markets should treat that as outdated: those regions have been wound down.

Gemini's biggest reputational problem was Gemini Earn, a yield product that lent customer crypto to Genesis Global Capital. When Genesis halted withdrawals in November 2022, roughly 232,000 Gemini Earn users had funds frozen inside Genesis's bankruptcy. In February 2024, Gemini reached a settlement to return Earn users' assets in kind, meaning someone who lent one bitcoin would get one bitcoin back plus any price appreciation. Distributions covering roughly 97% of what was owed began by the end of May 2024.

Separately, Gemini paid a $37 million fine and, following a New York Attorney General settlement, contributed to a broader recovery for Genesis creditors. The plain version: Earn users eventually got their assets back in full plus upside, but only after roughly 18 months frozen and only through a court-supervised bankruptcy settlement, not a quick fix.

The core Gemini product is a spot exchange aimed at retail users who want a simple interface. ActiveTrader is Gemini's professional-grade order book platform on the same account, with tiered maker and taker fees that fall as 30-day volume rises.

The Gemini Credit Card is a Mastercard with no annual fee and no foreign transaction fee. Rewards are paid instantly in crypto rather than accrued as points: 4% back on gas, EV charging and transit (capped at $300 in monthly spend in that category), 3% on dining, 2% on groceries and 1% on everything else, in the cryptocurrency of your choice. Gemini also offers staking on select assets with no minimum balance, keeping a share of the staking rewards as its fee, and operates as a qualified custodian on the institutional side.

Gemini runs a new user incentive that pays $15 in Bitcoin after a new account trades at least $100 in eligible crypto within 30 days of approval. Qualifying trades include instant buy/sell, convert, market and limit orders, ActiveTrader orders and derivatives; stablecoin conversions and plain deposits do not count. The account also has to reach full-tier verification, not just the basic level, and the promo has to be active on the account at sign-up through a tracked link or promo code, or nothing pays out.

Gemini's referral program pays $50 in crypto to both the existing user and the person they refer once the new account trades at least $100 in revenue-generating volume within 30 days. Payouts land roughly 32 days after sign-up, and both accounts have to stay open and in good standing through that date or neither side gets paid. Gemini caps total referral earnings at $1,500 per person. With the UK, EU and Australia exits, these incentives now effectively apply to the US and the handful of other markets Gemini still serves.