Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini has announced it will halt operations in the Netherlands due to its inability to meet the regulators’ requirements. Gemini has decided to quit the Netherlands by 17 November 2023, following in the footsteps of Binance.

The company cites its inability to meet regulators’ requirements but says it intends to return to the Dutch market. In a letter to its Dutch users on 26 September 2023, Gemini asks them to either withdraw their assets or transfer them to another wallet address, as the platform will suspend its operation in the Netherlands ‘due to requirements imposed by the De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) on crypto exchanges’ by Nov. 17.

The letter states: ‘We kindly ask you to proceed in emptying your Gemini account, ensuring that you no longer have a balance on your account as of 17th November 2023.’ Gemini suggests that users transfer their funds to the local crypto exchange Bitvavo, which is registered with the DNB. Launched in 2018, Amsterdam-based Bitvavo is a member of the Dutch Association of Bitcoin Companies. Plans of returning after full MiCA compliance Gemini intends to return to the Dutch market after getting its business ‘ready to be fully compliant’ with the new rules on crypto assets, as set out under the Markets in Crypto-Assets regulations (MiCA).

In the summer of 2023, Gemini’s global competitor, Binance, also ended operations in the Netherlands due to a failure to get the all-clear from the DNB. At the time, Officials from DNB said that it would be reasonable for Binance to try and restart their Dutch operations through compliance with MiCA, which will unify the EU’s requirements for crypto companies: ‘It is not yet clear in what way MiCA will be implemented in the Netherlands, but indeed it looks like it will be a different law than the WWFT and possibly on a European level, there may be access to the Dutch market for registered entities from other EU-countries.’ At the time of this announcement, 37 virtual asset providers are registered with the DNB, including eToro, Coinbase, Crypto.com and, BitPay. .