Revolut Wins Gibraltar Crypto License, Reopens Sign-Ups for Local Residents
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Gibraltar’s financial regulator authorized a new Revolut subsidiary to provide crypto services, and the unit can now execute virtual asset orders, hold assets in custody, and offer staking. Revolut tied the licence to a broader international expansion plan, while one report said the authorization will be used for crypto services in additional markets that have not been named yet.
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What it means
Gibraltar built its Distributed Ledger Technology framework under Part 7 of its Financial Services Act in 2018, drawing firms like eToro and Huobi with a regime lighter than full MiCA licensing in the EU. Revolut already runs crypto trading for millions of users globally, but has had to patch together permissions market by market since UK regulators restricted its crypto marketing in 2023. A dedicated Gibraltar entity gives it a cleaner regulatory base to build from.
Gibraltar residents who were locked out can again sign up for Revolut's crypto features, including order execution, custody and staking, through the new subsidiary, Revolut Global Digital Assets Limited. For Revolut, the licence is not just a local fix: it is a template entity the company says it will reuse to launch crypto services in other markets it has not yet named, letting it scale compliance work once rather than per country.
Reusing a single Gibraltar licence as a springboard into unnamed markets tests how far 'passporting' logic can stretch outside the EU's single market, where Gibraltar sits in a looser post-Brexit arrangement with the UK. Critics of this approach argue it lets fintechs shop for the most convenient regulator rather than seek licences suited to each market's risk profile; Revolut would counter that consistent standards across one entity are safer than a patchwork of local deals.
The open question is which countries Revolut picks next and when, since the company has confirmed only that the Gibraltar authorization will support further international launches without naming markets or dates. Watch for Revolut's own announcements of new crypto rollouts tied to this entity, and for whether regulators in larger markets, such as the EU under MiCA, treat the Gibraltar licence as sufficient groundwork or demand separate local approval.
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