Gemini, the crypto exchange founded by the Winklevoss twins, is taking a bold step into tokenized equities—starting with its European user base.
The company announced Friday that EU-based customers can now access tokenized versions of U.S. stocks, beginning with an onchain representation of MicroStrategy’s stock (MSTR), now trading on Arbitrum, an Ethereum Layer 2 network. The move opens the door to 24/7, blockchain-based equity trading—something traditional markets still don’t offer.
The new product is built in partnership with Dinari, a company that recently became the first to receive U.S. regulatory approval to offer blockchain-based financial instruments. Through Dinari’s tokenization-on-demand platform, Gemini aims to bring tokenized equities and ETFs to life with minimal friction and increased accessibility. Fractional ownership will also be available, allowing more people to invest in high-value stocks without needing to buy whole shares.
“These assets marry the global accessibility of crypto with the trusted economic fundamentals of traditional finance,” Gemini said in its announcement. “Our goal is to export U.S. equities across the globe and connect the greatest companies on planet Earth to the people of planet Earth.”
The initiative makes Gemini one of the first major platforms to bring onchain equities to European retail users. The tokens, dubbed dShares by Dinari, are backed 1:1 by real U.S. equities held with a regulated custodian. Where permitted, these tokenized shares may even offer the same economic rights as their traditional counterparts.
Tokenized stocks work by issuing digital representations that mirror the price of publicly listed companies. While the concept isn’t new, regulatory complexity has kept the offering limited mostly to users outside the U.S. Competitors like Coinbase and Kraken have expressed interest in similar products, but full-scale rollouts remain pending.
For now, the offering is limited to MicroStrategy’s MSTR stock, which was trading around $383.88 at the time of the announcement. Gemini says it plans to add more U.S. stocks and ETFs in the near future and expand to additional blockchain networks.
Gemini’s tokenized equity trading is currently regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority, providing a compliant framework for EU users.
