KAST, a Singapore startup that offers stablecoin accounts and payment cards, has bought Gemini’s UK and European operations for less than $10 million, according to a CoinDesk report Thursday. The outlet’s information came from one person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named.
Gemini, the crypto exchange founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and listed on Nasdaq under its holding company Gemini Space Station (GEMI), did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Unchained.
A KAST spokesperson told Unchained: “We are actively in the market for M&A, as our revenue and footprint grows. But we cannot comment at this time.”
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A Job Listing Describes the Handover
KAST’s own hiring points the same way. A listing for a General Manager, Europe asks the new hire to oversee “the transition of Gemini’s UK and EU team members to KAST” and the “integration of the acquired UK and EU entities.” The posting also says the role must ensure KAST’s products “fit under the new licences” and oversee partners handling a two-phase move from operational accounts to client-money accounts, which hold customer funds separately.
What KAST Appears to Be Buying
Our read: at this price, KAST appears to be paying mainly for regulated entities and a working team, since Gemini was due to close all UK customer accounts in April. Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said in February that both Gemini UK units would close accounts on April 6, and that it would keep working with the firms until their permissions and registration were cancelled; whether those permissions survive a change of owner has not been disclosed.
From Retreat to Sale
The reported sale would complete Gemini’s exit from Europe, part of a pullback it began early this year. Its second-quarter earnings release restated plans “to wind down operations in the United Kingdom, European Union, other European jurisdictions, and Australia,” and Unchained reported in February that the retreat came with a cut of about a quarter of its staff and the exits of its operating, finance and legal chiefs.
QED Investors and Left Lane Capital led an $80 million Series A for KAST in March, and some of that money was set aside for licences and compliance. Its founder, Raagulan Pathy, previously worked at Circle. Europe was not among the regions KAST named for expansion at the time.
Gemini is due to report third-quarter results after U.S. markets close on Thursday. None of the 8-K reports Gemini has filed with the SEC this year, the filings U.S.-listed companies use to disclose major events, mentioned a sale as of Thursday morning.
