Gemini Payments, a popular cryptoasset trading platform founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, officially launched in Ireland on Wednesday after becoming the first company to receive secure virtual asset service provider registration from the Central Bank of Ireland during the summer.
Gemini, which also holds a European e-money licence, allows customers to buy, sell and hold cryptoassets such as Bitcoin and Ether and digital non-fungible tokens (NFTs)
Accounts filed by the company’s Irish trading entity show it employed six people in Ireland last year with its wages and salaries bill ballooning from just €14,000 in 2020, when the Irish company was first incorporated, to close to €1.6 million in 2021.
However, Gemini significantly reduced its global headcount earlier this year in response to a steep decline in cryptoasset prices that began in the first quarter of 2022.
The company, which closed a funding round late last year, valuing it at $7.1 billion (€6.4 billion), has ambitious growth plans. In a statement on Wednesday Gillian Lynch, Gemini’s Irish and European lead, said Ireland is “a gateway to the wider European financial market”.
She said: “Gemini is committed to providing consumers and institutions with a secure entry point into crypto. We’re excited to be live in Ireland, where there is strong demand among a highly educated and tech literate consumer base for accessible crypto services in euros.”
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are best known for suing Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, claiming he stole the idea for the social networking site from them when they were undergraduates. The twins were ultimately awarded a $65 million (€59 million) settlement in cash and Facebook shares.
