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Gemini Space Station has sold its already closed U.K. and European operations to Singapore stablecoin payments firm KAST for less than $10 million, Bitcoin Magazine reported, citing CoinDesk. The report lands on the day Gemini is due to publish third-quarter results after the U.S. market close on Thursday.
Neither company has confirmed the transaction. Gemini declined to comment, and a KAST spokesperson would not discuss it, saying only that the company is actively reviewing acquisitions as its revenue and footprint grow. No regulator has announced a change-of-control approval.
Also read: Gemini and Apex Fintech Plan to Bring Crypto Prediction Markets to Brokerage Clients
Key facts
- KAST would pay under $10 million for Gemini’s U.K. and EU units, according to the CoinDesk report cited by Bitcoin Magazine.
- On Feb. 4, Nasdaq-listed Gemini (GEMI) approved a plan to exit the U.K., the EU and other European jurisdictions, plus Australia, and to cut up to 200 jobs, about 25% of its global workforce at the time.
- Gemini estimated roughly $11 million in pre-tax restructuring charges, mostly in cash, and expected the wind-down to be substantially complete in the first half of 2026.
- KAST, founded in July 2024 by former Circle executive Raagulan Pathy, said in March it had raised $80 million in a Series A round co-led by QED Investors and Left Lane Capital.
- Crypto-related M&A reached $2.2 billion across 67 announced deals in the third quarter, an 83% drop in value from the prior quarter, per advisory firm Architect Partners as cited by Bitcoinist.
What would actually change hands
The sale covers the residual entities, staff and regulatory permissions of units that had already been shut, not Gemini’s core U.S. exchange. Gemini told U.K., European Economic Area and Australian customers their accounts would close on April 6, with withdrawals-only from early March. Buyers of wound-down crypto businesses often want the licences more than the remaining operations, and a transfer of a licensed firm in the U.K. or EU normally still requires a local change-of-control review before a new owner can run it.
Bitcoinist reported that the deal surfaced through a KAST recruitment listing posted about a month earlier, seeking a European general manager to oversee the transfer of Gemini employees across the U.K. and EU. Unchained pointed to the same listing, which describes a two-phase move from operational accounts to client-money accounts and says the hire must ensure KAST’s products sit under the new licences. The reports differ in emphasis: Bitcoinist frames the deal as a route into regulated European markets, while Unchained characterises the price as paying mainly for regulated entities and a working team, since the accounts were already closing. Bitcoinist and Unchained both note that outstanding details — which entities, how many staff, which authorisations — have not been disclosed.
KAST’s European ambitions
KAST runs dollar-denominated accounts, cross-border payments and cards for holding, moving and spending stablecoins. In its March funding announcement it said it had more than one million users and was processing nearly $5 billion in annualised transaction volume; those figures have not been independently verified. The company said part of the raise would go to licensing and compliance, though Europe was not among the regions it named for expansion at the time.
The backdrop is a broader shift in crypto dealmaking toward smaller purchases of licences and market access rather than large mergers. Gemini’s own February SEC filing set out the exit plan, and co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss told customers the firm would concentrate on the United States after foreign markets proved hard to win and stretched costs. Earlier this year the twins put $100 million of bitcoin into the company after the stock came under pressure.
Why it matters
For Gemini, the disposal would finish a retreat begun in February and simplify a structure investors are scrutinising for signs that cost cuts are taking hold. For KAST, the prize is regulated entities and an existing team, which can be a faster route into European markets than applying for permissions from scratch — provided regulators approve new ownership. A sub-$10 million price is small next to the roughly $11 million in charges Gemini already carried for the exit, so the deal says more about the value of licences than about the exchange’s core business.
What to watch
Gemini’s third-quarter release on Thursday evening and the 8:30 a.m. ET call on Friday are the first chance for confirmation; Unchained noted that none of the 8-K reports Gemini has filed with the SEC this year mentioned a sale as of Thursday morning. Also watch whether the U.K.’s FCA or EU regulators disclose a change-of-control review of the transferred permissions.
Reported by Bitcoin Magazine.