Gemini is a cryptocurrency exchange and custodian that allows its users to buy, sell, and store digital assets. It was founded in 2014 by the famous Winklevoss brothers, who are well-known within the cryptocurrency community. Apart from offering trading and cryptocurrency storage services, users can also participate in ‘staking programs’ that allow them to generate a passive income by delegating their digital assets to projects that utilize the Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism.
The key difference between Gemini and Zengo is that Zengo is a Web3-ready non-custodial wallet that allows its users to be in control of their own private keys. Whilst Gemini is a crypto exchange platform that also offers custodial cryptocurrency storage services. As a custodial service, Gemini maintains control over the private keys rather than the users themselves. If Gemini becomes insolvent for any reason, it can ‘freeze’ clients’ assets and halt withdrawals whilst Zengo users can always access their funds.
Gemini charges its users $125 per withdrawal from Gemini Custody to Gemini Exchange. In the case of crypto withdrawals, users pay a dynamic or flat fee. Dynamic fees apply to Ethereum and ERC-20 tokens (except Gemini dollar GUSD) and are based on current Ethereum gas fees whilst flat fees vary on a per-token basis and can be seen here.
Your Gemini withdrawals limit is dependent on your account type. Gemini makes a clear distinction between custody clients and traders, with $100,000 being the standard daily withdrawal limit for retail Gemini users.
Most Gemini cryptocurrency withdrawal requests are processed within 2 to 3 hours (depending on the crypto asset), but they may take up to 48 hours in rare cases. Fiat withdrawals are processed within an average of 3 business days, according to Gemini.
Crypto can be withdrawn to fiat on Gemini by adding a bank account to your Gemini account, verifying this via Plaid, selling cryptocurrency for the desired fiat currency, and then withdrawing this cryptocurrency to the connected bank account.
The main problems that occur when withdrawing money from Gemini are that you accidentally send it to the wrong address or that your fiat bank transfer gets rejected for some reason. Additionally, there may be certain withdrawal restrictions as well as holds that may be applied to withdrawals.
