Gemini’s Europe Growth Head Weighs In

The tokenization of real company stocks or equities is emerging as the popular trend in web3. Leading Exchanges such as Kraken, Bybit, Gemini, OKX alongwith Solana and BNB blockchains have already made their big moves by rolling out the service on their platforms.

As the trend continues to accelerate, CoinGape speaks with Gemini Head of Consumer Growth for Europe – Claudio Bedino – in this exclusive PowerTalk.

Claudio, here, speaks on the reasoning behind the tokenized equities race, how Gemini’s tokenized service is being received by EU users, next steps in line and future vision for EU users.

Why did Gemini decide to enter the tokenized equities market?

Last month on June 27, Gemini official launched its tokenized equity service. It listed MicroStrategy (MSTR) as its first tokenized U.S. stock for eligible EU customers. On the reason why Gemini decided to enter the tokenized stocks market, Claudia says,

Gemini believes that crypto is the future of finance, which is accessible and open to everyone. We launched tokenized equities in early July to bridge crypto-native infrastructure with traditional finance. The aim is to lower barriers and broaden access to global equity markets, democratizing access to financial opportunities that historically had significant barriers. 

Tokenized equities allow users to buy and sell representations of publicly traded company shares such as MicroStrategy, onchain, 24/5, directly from their Gemini account. There’s no need for a brokerage account, and users can access fractional shares and trade outside standard market hours. We see this as a natural extension of crypto’s core principles: openness, accessibility, and efficiency. 

While major Exchanges partnered with Backed’s xStocks, Gemini chose Dinari for its tokenized equity service. The few other names of tokenized stocks that Gemini offers include Apple (APPL), Amazon (AMZN), Disney (DIS), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet/Google (GOOGL), Netflix (NFLX), among others.

How EU Users are Welcoming Tokenized Stocks

It is interesting to note that during the past 30 days, the number of unique crypto wallets that actively held tokenized stocks on Solana jumped from 788 to 42,940. This is a staggering 5,349% leap that already proves there’s a full-blown stampede in progress.

On how Gemini’s tokenized service is receiving response from its users, Gemini Growth Head Claudia clarified,

Although we can’t share specific figures, we’re seeing growing interest in our tokenized equities from both existing and new users.

The total value of tokenized stocks market has already surpassed $417 million with over 57K holders. According to rwa.xyz data, Solana accounts for over 20% of the market – valued at nearly $102 million as of July 22. This represents a 242% increase from its $29.8 million size at the debut date.

However, Ethereum plus its Layer 2s (Arbitrum, Polygon and Base) together hold only $11.8 million in tokenized equities.

Also Read: AI is the Solution to Broken Crypto Governance

What’s Next in the tokenized equity market?

As the tokenized equity space is an emerging trend and the space is quite new, there are many developments that await. Even though the market cap of tokenized equities is hitting millions, the utility of these tokens in DeFi protocols is very less. Governments and securities regulators worldwide are still grappling with how to classify and oversee tokenized stocks.

Claudia shares how Gemini is planning to improve its user experience and what is its vision for the market:

We’re continuously looking to improve the user experience, and enhancing availability is a key part of this. 

Whilst we currently offer over 35 tokenized equities, across the blue chips, TradFi, SaaS, and some of the world’s most well-known brands, our goal is to expand that list in order to replicate the traditional market as closely as possible. 

We’d also welcome a future where some companies directly issue tokenized shares, creating opportunities to list them natively on crypto exchanges like Gemini.

Separately, tokenized equities are available to trade 24 hours a day, five days a week. While this already improves on traditional market hours, we’re aiming to move toward 24/7 access in the future, says Claudia.

Further, Tokenized equities are currently only available in the EU with additional markets planned in the near future soon.

What a Crypto User in EU is Demanding

Besides the particularly one service of tokenized equities, Claudia shares what an EU user in general expects from the crypto products and services –

Firstly, trust is a key element of any crypto firm in the space. Gemini was founded in 2015 and has built a global reputation for upholding the highest standards of safety, security, and regulatory compliance. This means users feel they can trust us with their funds. Gemini is the world’s first SOC 1 Type 2 and SOC 2 Type 2 certified crypto exchange and custodian. In the EU, we hold seven VASP licenses, an EMI from Ireland, and a MiFID II license in Malta for derivatives.

Similarly, EU users demand simple and reliable products, and a streamlined UX is a key part of that. These products should make it easy to navigate the crypto space. We’ve recently undertaken a product overhaul, introducing new payment methods as an on and off-ramp into the crypto space, improvements to the mobile app and website layout and display.

We’ve also enhanced our advanced trading platform, ActiveTrader, with greater customization options, allowing users to tailor the user interface to their individual trading preferences.

Gemini’s 2025 State of Crypto report showed that Europe has some of the highest crypto adoption rates in the world, with around 1 in 5 people in France and Italy owning crypto. Therefore, utility is also key.

The blockchain space, along with regulations governing it, is still nascent and rapidly evolving, meaning that users demand innovative ways to utilize the real benefits of crypto. This could be through tokenized equities, simplifying access to traditional financial instruments, or offering ways to invest their passive crypto holdings and gain yield, such as through staking or crypto derivativ