Revolut wins Gibraltar crypto licence for global services

Revolut has received a Gibraltar licence for a new subsidiary to handle crypto orders, custody and staking, creating a regulated base for international services the company says it plans to expand. The company’s announcement on October 19 says the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC) authorised Revolut Global Digital Assets Limited as a Distributed Ledger Technology provider.

The permission covers three functions. A firm can transmit and execute virtual-asset orders, provide custody services and offer staking services, according to the Government of Gibraltar, which describes the authorisation as granted under Part 7 of the Financial Services Act. In practical terms, the permission names the crypto activities the subsidiary can conduct under Gibraltar’s regulatory framework.

What can Revolut’s Gibraltar subsidiary do?

It can handle the path from an order to an executed transaction, safeguard crypto assets in custody and provide staking services. Order transmission means passing a customer’s instruction into the process; execution is carrying it out. Custody concerns holding assets for customers, while staking involves putting eligible crypto assets to work in a blockchain network’s validation process. The licence covers these categories, but Revolut has not disclosed which specific services it will offer through the entity.

Think of the permission as a defined set of tools: it establishes which activities the subsidiary may carry out, while leaving the company to announce how it will use them. Revolut said the licence will support its international presence and crypto offerings in expansion markets. It did not name those markets or give a rollout date.

How does the licence fit with Revolut’s existing crypto services?

The Gibraltar entity adds a third regulatory route alongside the company’s existing UK and European operations. Revolut says its UK crypto services run through Revolut Ltd, while Revolut Digital Assets Europe Ltd serves the European Economic Area under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, or MiCA. The Gibraltar permission applies to Revolut Global Digital Assets Limited; it does not replace those entities.

Revolut’s announcement says the company has more than 80 million retail customers worldwide and over 16 million crypto users. The licence gives it a newly authorised entity for the international expansion it has described, but the next steps remain open: specific target regions and service rollouts are still to be announced. Until those details arrive, the permission’s scope is clearer than its eventual reach.

Sources and documents

• company’s announcement — revolut.com
• Government of Gibraltar — gibraltar.gov.gi