The Gemini crypto exchange’s Winklevoss twins have chosen Dublin as the site for its European headquarters.
It comes amid a spate of crypto companies looking to move outside of the US, citing a more scrutinised regulatory environment in the wake of the collapse of FTX.
Earlier in the week, the United Kingdom had been considered as the new location for the exchange. Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss had tweeted: “Very uplifting meeting yesterday with @citylordmayor. There does seem to be real efforts inside the government to make the UK a home of the future. The finest minds in the world are working on crypto and AI. The UK does not want to be left behind.”
But Ireland has taken now the crown, with the Cameron tweeting his meeting with the Irish Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar.
Varadkar has since tweeted: “Congratulations @Gemini – the first firm registered by the Central Bank of Ireland as a Virtual Asset Service Provider. This is significant for Ireland as the Government focuses on innovation as a driver of growth. I wish Gemini every success as they build their team in Ireland.”
He added: “Gemini’s decision to locate in Ireland highlights our competitive offering for the international financial services sector. We take pride in how it has grown from 60 staff in Dublin 30 years ago, to approximately 56,000 people around the country working in finance today.”
Ireland and crypto
In August last year, it was reported that cryptocurrency adoption in Ireland dropped slightly by 2%, according to data by Finder.com, with an estimated 72% of Irish crypto holders men and the other 28% women.
The most popular coins and tokens among Irish crypto owners were reportedly Bitcoin at 35%, Dogecoin at 26% and Ethereum at 23%.
Ireland is already home to many leading US firms, including IBM, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and Apple.
