Gemini Sells UK and European Operations to KAST for Under $10 Million

Gemini sold its U.K. and European operations to stablecoin payments company KAST for under $10 million, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal is private. The sale hands a Singapore-based payments upstart the exchange's European footprint at a fraction of what those markets once promised.

Gemini Space Station (GEMI), the New York holding company that runs the exchange founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, executed the disposal after winding down the businesses earlier this year. The deal was telegraphed roughly a month ago in a KAST recruitment listing, which tasked a prospective European general manager with overseeing the transition of Gemini's U.K. and European Union staff.

Gemini declined to comment. A KAST spokesperson would not discuss the transaction directly, but said: "We are actively in the market for M&A, as our revenue and footprint grows."

Why did Gemini walk away from Europe?

The answer is cost. In February, Gemini announced plans to wind down operations in the U.K., the EU and Australia, while cutting about 25% of its global workforce. The company kept its U.S. and Singapore businesses. The retreat formed part of a broader restructuring aimed at reducing costs and pursuing profitability.

CoinDesk previously reported that potential buyers were circling Gemini's shuttered U.K. and European businesses to obtain their regulatory permissions. None wanted the whole Nasdaq-listed company. That detail says a lot. In today's crypto dealmaking, a license is often worth more than the business attached to it.

KAST fits that pattern precisely. The company provides accounts, cross-border transfers and payment cards that let consumers and businesses hold, move and spend stablecoins. It was founded by former Circle executive Raagulan Pathy. In March, it raised $80 million in a Series A round co-led by QED Investors and Left Lane Capital, with licensing and compliance named among the planned uses of the funding. Buying Gemini's European entities shortcuts the licensing process.

What does this change for the M&A market?

The numbers frame the shift. Crypto M&A totaled $2.2 billion across 67 announced transactions in the third quarter, according to advisory firm Architect Partners. That is down 83% by value from the previous quarter. Dealmaking is not stopping. It is shrinking and changing shape — smaller acquisitions that add regulatory licenses, distribution and product capabilities, rather than headline takeovers.

Gemini's overseas retreat ran alongside fresh backing from its founders. In May, the exchange received a $100 million capital injection from Winklevoss Capital Fund, which bought Class A shares at $14 apiece and paid in bitcoin. The capital arrived as Gemini pushed its restructuring forward and tried to grow beyond crypto trading into a broader markets business.

That expansion has a concrete anchor. In August, Gemini signed a letter of intent with Apex Fintech Solutions to distribute its regulated crypto prediction markets to brokerage firms. Under the proposed arrangement, Gemini Titan would serve as the exclusive regulated venue for crypto event contracts offered through Apex's futures commission merchant (FCM).

So the strategy is legible: shed expensive international licenses, take founder capital, and rebuild around regulated U.S. market infrastructure. KAST gets European permissions and staff at a discount. Whether prediction markets through Apex can replace the revenue Europe once represented is the question Gemini's next two quarters will have to answer.

Expect more license-driven bolt-ons like this one as firms with fresh funding chase regulatory footprints faster than they could build them.