Despite an ongoing legal dispute with the US authorities, the Gemini crypto exchange owned by the Winklevoss twins has announced the launch of a cryptocurrency derivatives platform.
The new platform will only serve cryptocurrency derivatives traders outside of the North American country.
BTC/GUSD Perpetual Contracts First in the menu
IN blog posts on April 21, the Gemini exchange announced the upcoming launch of a new cryptocurrency derivatives platform called the Gemini Foundation.
The US-based Bitcoin Trading Center said the new derivatives platform will be exclusively for investors outside the US platform.
In the first derivatives trading on the Gemini Foundation, investors will be able to trade Bitcoin perpetual contracts denominated in the exchange’s well-known stablecoin Gemini Dollars (GUSD).
The announcement says that the company also plans to add ETH/GUSD perpetual contracts to its lineup of offerings and more.
With the Gemini Foundation, crypto traders will be able to go long or short using spot and derivative products.
According to its eligibility criteria, the Gemini Foundation will support 30 countries, with more to come.
Some eligible regions include Singapore, New Zealand, Nigeria, Hong Kong, Bermuda, South Africa, Switzerland and 23 others.
Also conspicuous was the absence of the United States of America (USA). For deposits and withdrawals, customers will be able to convert their USD to GUSD on a 1:1 basis at no additional cost.
Gemini Foundation clients will be charged using the exchange’s stablecoin and will have a maximum leverage of 100x for both spot and derivatives trading.
Providing more information about the Gemini Foundation’s experience, the Gemini team said it was created specifically for individual investors and financial institutions.
The upcoming cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform will offer users an efficient and highly accessible trading experience thanks to its powerful trading tools and elegant user experience.
Gemini looks to favorable regulatory climate amid US crackdown
Since the crypto boom of 2021, more and more US agencies are paying close attention to the emerging decentralized economy.
The collapse of the Bahamas-based Terra blockchain and FTX served as a signal for US regulators to pay close attention to the crypto market.
Gemini was one of the affected cryptocurrency exchanges after the suspension of the Earn program and its litigation with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The SEC has since charged the New York Bitcoin Exchange for offering unregistered securities through its Gemini Earn program.
This forced the platform to shut down all Earn products and many of its customers lost access to their funds.
This uncertain regulatory climate and heavy crackdown on centralized crypto trading organizations in the North American country has prompted the eight-year-old exchange to consider other regions for its sustainable operations.
According to widespread reports, Gemini Exchange recently moved its engineering and operations center to India.
In an official statement released on April 20, the crypto exchange aims to attract the best talent in the country by making India its first station in the Asia-Pacific region as it enters the international market.
Gemini India’s technical center will be involved in web and mobile user interface development, compliance, data pipelines, warehousing, security and payments.
Giving more context to the move, Gemini’s international chief technology officer Pravjit Tiwana said the Indian hub will be the exchange’s second largest engineering center after its US operations.
Tiwana also mentioned that all the products and features built in the Indian hub will be available to the exchange’s retail and institutional clients in 70+ countries.
Platform Gemini was not the only centralized organization looking at life beyond the shores of the United States.
American company Coinbase as well received a regulatory license from the government of Bermuda to operate an offshore crypto exchange.
The chief executive officer (CEO) of the exchange Brian Armstrong also pulls a helping hand to the UK government, which is rebuilding its blockchain unit.