One Year of Building Gemini UK

Today, we are celebrating Gemini UK’s one year anniversary! Since our launch, we’ve been blown away by our incredible growth, partnerships, and colleagues who have joined our mission to make Gemini the go-to crypto exchange in the UK.

True to Gemini’s ethos, we sought permission from regulators before launching in the UK. Gemini became one of the first and remains one of a handful of crypto exchanges registered by the Financial Conduct Authority under money laundering legislation in the UK, a testament to our commitment to offering UK customers the highest levels of safety and security. All of that is on top of our authorization as an E-money Institution, which means the fiat in your wallet is safer with us.

Boats, Pizza, and Giving Back

Since launching in September 2020, we’ve certainly created a splash in the market. We proudly served as the principal sponsor of The 2021 Oxford-Cambridge University Boat Race, one of the oldest and most celebrated events in the UK sporting calendar. Broadcast globally, we reached enthusiasts of both crypto and sports with illuminated Gemini-branded rowing boats, and presented the victorious rowers with their trophies.

Equally exciting, we launched the Gemini Bursary Fund to further develop the sport and provide young people from disadvantaged backgrounds across the UK with an opportunity to learn rowing. While initially intended to be capped at £75,000, it was so well received that we donated in excess of £81,000 to amazing social mobility sporting programs across the UK.

On Bitcoin Pizza Day, May 25th, we delivered pizzas to the remarkable staff of the National Health Service’s accident and Emergency centres across London to celebrate. As a small gesture, Gemini wished to thank medical workers for their incredible work and service during a gruelling year — a rewarding way to acknowledge a hallmark day for the industry!

A Growing Ship With More to Come...

What started as a three person team back in January 2020, has now grown into an entity attracting top quality expertise and world class talent across business development, compliance, customer service, engineering, financial crime, finance, marketing, and communications. With more roles available on our website and further still in the pipeline, the UK talent stream at Gemini shows no sign of abating.

Gemini also joined Take Five To Stop Fraud earlier this month, a national campaign to raise awareness of financial fraud. Joining the initiative, which is endorsed by the UK government and the largest banks and fintechs in the UK, is an important step on our mission to better protect consumers and raise awareness of fraud in the crypto industry. Gemini is committed to being a conscientious and demonstratively positive partner within the UK financial services industry.

We continue to cement strong relationships with local media, including the Financial Times, to share Gemini’s global and local story and affirm our position as thought leaders in crypto, financial regulation, custody, and DeFi. The UK team is further amplifying the Gemini message through a number of speaking engagements, including Token 2049 in October and Digital Asset Summit London in November, to further establish and build our presence in the institutional space.

Thank you to everyone who has supported our journey this past year and for all the international Gemini teams whose tireless work has helped us successfully launch in the UK.

For the year ahead, we look forward to welcoming new team members, growing our product offering, and continuing our work with global colleagues to empower individuals across the world through crypto.

Onward and Upward!

Blair Halliday
Head of Gemini UK