Revolut wins Gibraltar crypto licence, has more than 16 million users
Key Facts
Revolut has obtained a distributed ledger technology provider licence from the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission, a step the company said supports the international expansion of its cryptocurrency services. The licence was issued to its new entity, Revolut Global Digital Assets Limited, which will provide the services covered by the regulatory authorisation. The announcement comes as the company has more than 16 million cryptocurrency users, according to its statement on the licence. Revolut also has more than 80 million retail customers worldwide, according to figures it cited at the time of the announcement. The Gibraltar government said the entity's authorisation was issued under Part 7 of the territory's Financial Services Act.
The authorisation extends to virtual asset dealing and holding services, according to details announced by the Gibraltar government. It allows the entity to transmit virtual asset orders and execute those orders within the activities covered by the regulatory mandate. It also includes virtual asset custody services, an activity the government explicitly listed within the scope of the new authorisation. The government statement also listed staking services among the activities authorised for Revolut's Gibraltar entity. The licence thus combines, according to the government's description, the trading order, custody and staking services the company plans to draw on for its international expansion.
Emil Urmanshin, Revolut's general manager for crypto and new ventures, linked the licence to the company's commitment to regulatory requirements. He said in its statement: "Securing our DLT authorisation from the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission reflects our commitment to operating to the highest standards of regulatory compliance." In the broader local context, Gibraltar Finance says licensed providers of this technology must meet appropriate anti-money laundering requirements. Albert Isola, then minister for digital and financial services, said in an article republished by Gibraltar Finance that the regulatory framework includes effective mandatory controls to segregate client assets. Gibraltar's distributed ledger technology legislation came into force in January 2018, according to Gibraltar Finance.
The licensing move comes as the group's business grows, with revenue rising to £4.5 billion in its latest published annual results. The annual increase was 46%, according to Revolut's financial results statement. Group revenue stood at £3.1 billion in 2024, the comparison year cited by the company in the statement. On its local services, the Gibraltar government announced that Revolut had fully resumed accepting new customers who reside in the territory. The resumption of sign-ups applies to the company's e-money and payments app, according to the government statement, which also welcomed the new regulatory authorisation for virtual asset activities.
In the United Arab Emirates, Revolut previously received in-principle approval from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority to provide services in the sector. The in-principle approval includes virtual asset broker-dealer activities, according to the company's statement on its UAE move. It also covers virtual asset management and investment services, among the activities Revolut seeks to offer there. The company also listed virtual asset exchange services within the scope of the approval it received from the Dubai regulator. Revolut made the provision of services covered by this approval conditional on obtaining the necessary final regulatory approvals, tying their launch to completion of that process.
In the European Economic Area, Revolut is transferring cryptocurrency customers residing there to its European digital assets entity, according to the company's help centre. These customers are being transferred from Revolut Limited to Revolut Digital Assets Europe Limited, under the arrangement the company explained to its customers. Revolut said the transfer aims to comply with European rules governing markets in crypto-assets. The receiving entity holds a crypto-asset service provider licence from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, according to the same explanation. That licence falls under the European Markets in Crypto-Assets framework, which the company uses to govern the provision of services to customers residing in the European Economic Area.
The next step for the Gibraltar entity is to announce details of the markets Revolut is targeting as part of its international crypto services expansion. The company will also announce details of the rollout of services the new entity will support, according to its statement on obtaining the licence. It said those details would be provided "in due course", leaving the announcement of expansion destinations and service rollouts to a later stage. On local licensing activity, the Gibraltar government expected to issue 3 distributed ledger technology authorisations during the week Revolut's licence was announced. That forecast came in the government statement welcoming the company's new authorisation and the resumption of customer sign-ups, placing its move within broader licensing activity in the sector.