Gemini, the New York-headquartered crypt exchange platform founded by the Winklevoss twins, announced that it is shutting down operations in the Netherlands and advised its Dutch customers to withdraw their crypto assets by mid-November.
“We kindly ask you to proceed in emptying your Gemini account, ensuring that you no longer have a balance on your account as of 17th November 2023,” Gemini said in a letter sent to its Dutch users dated Sept. 26.
The platform said it is ending its operations in the European country “due to requirements imposed by the De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) on crypto exchanges” and would like to make sure that the transition of its customers’ “fiat and crypto assets from Gemini as easy and seamless as possible.”
All accounts will be closed by Nov. 17, according to Gemini, and by then Dutch customers will no longer have access to the platform.
Gemini is also permitted to “sell any remaining crypto assets on the open market at a price no lower than 5% below the Prevailing Market Price and return the proceeds (less any trading fee discounts, rebates, and/or damages to which we are entitled) to any bank account linked to your account” which is what it will do for Dutch customers who fail to withdraw their funds before the deadline.
But, Gemini is not yet closing its doors to its Dutch customers, as it highlighted the possibility of reopening accounts in the future.
“Gemini continues to be committed to working collaboratively with regulators around the world and is focused on getting our business ready to be fully compliant with the new EU rules on crypto-assets, as set out under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), whereby we hope to be able to offer crypto-asset services to customers based in the Netherlands in the future,” the exchange said in the announcement.
Gemini is not the only exchange closing down its operations in the Netherlands.
In June, Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange platform by trading volume, announced it is leaving the Dutch market and will no longer accept account openings for “new users residing in the Netherlands” because of its failure to get the all-clear from the De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB).
“Binance has been in a comprehensive registration application process as a virtual asset service provider (VASP) with the Dutch regulator. Although we explored many alternative avenues to service Dutch residents in compliance with Dutch regulations, unfortunately, this has not resulted in a VASP registration in the Netherlands,” Binance said at the time.
