Crypto Exchange Gemini Introduces Fee Free US Stock Trading As It Pushes To Become A Financial Super App

Gemini Drops Trading Fees To Chase Super App Dream

Trading stocks without paying a single commission has long been Robinhood's calling card.

Now Gemini wants a piece of that story too.

The crypto exchange run by twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss has rolled out 0% commission stock trading for customers across most of the United States, marking its clearest push yet beyond digital assets and into mainstream investing.

What Does The New Offering Actually Cover

Eligible users can now buy and sell thousands of US exchange-listed securities directly from the Gemini app, with Nasdaq supplying real-time market data for the platform.

The rollout isn't quite nationwide just yet.

Customers in Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Massachusetts, Texas, Puerto Rico, Washington DC and Guam remain locked out for the time being, though Gemini hasn't said when or if that will change.

Behind the scenes, Gemini isn't handling the actual trade execution itself.

The company has updated its FINRA broker-dealer registration to operate as an introducing broker, meaning it brings in customers and passes their orders along, while Apex Clearing Corporation takes care of clearing and acts as custodian for the assets.

Why Is Gemini Betting On Stocks Now

Cameron Winklevoss, Gemini's co-founder and president, framed the move as a natural extension of what the company has already built.

"We have over a decade of experience in building financial platforms. We started with crypto and are expanding to stocks so that customers can manage their entire financial lives right from the Gemini app,"

He added,

"This is what building a true financial super app looks like, and we're just getting started."

His brother Tyler, Gemini's chief executive, put it in even broader terms.

"Crypto was just the beginning. Our goal is to bring many financial products, from crypto to equities to derivatives, under one regulated platform.”

Zero-commission trading is hardly a new concept in the US, having become something close to an industry norm since Robinhood popularised it years ago.

What's notable here is a crypto-native platform borrowing that same fee-free playbook and applying it to a customer base that started out buying Bitcoin, not blue-chip shares.

Free Trades Rarely Mean Free Money For Brokers

Dropping commissions doesn't mean Gemini is giving up on revenue from stock trading altogether.

Brokers that skip trading fees typically make money elsewhere, through payment for order flow, interest earned on cash sitting idle in accounts, margin lending, premium subscription tiers, or selling data.

Gemini hasn't specified which of these it plans to lean on, leaving that part of the business model an open question for now.

Gemini Isn't Alone In This Race

This shift isn't happening in isolation.

Rivals Coinbase and Kraken have both been widening their own offerings to include traditional assets like stocks and commodities, suggesting a broader pattern among crypto exchanges racing to diversify beyond digital coins.

For companies whose revenue can swing sharply with crypto prices and trading volumes, stocks offer something steadier, a product retail investors already understand and trade regardless of what Bitcoin is doing that week.

There's also a stickiness factor at play.

The more services a customer uses within one app, whether that's crypto, equities, staking, custody or credit cards, the less reason they have to look elsewhere.

Gemini seems to be betting that convenience, not just price, will keep users loyal.

Regulatory Wins Are Piling Up Too

The stock trading launch arrives alongside a string of regulatory progress for Gemini.

In April, the company secured a Derivatives Clearing Organization licence from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, adding to its existing Designated Contract Market licence.

Together, these allow its Olympus subsidiary to function as a clearinghouse for derivatives as Gemini expands further into futures and prediction markets.

There was also an unusual moment of vindication in May, when the CFTC apologised to Gemini over a past lawsuit it had filed against the exchange concerning its Bitcoin futures product.

How Has The Business Actually Been Performing

Gemini went public as Gemini Space Station in September 2025, and the numbers since then tell a mixed story.

Revenue climbed 42% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, with particular strength in its services division covering credit cards, staking and custody.

Yet the company still posted a net loss of 109 million US dollars for the quarter.

Its stock has also struggled since listing, falling roughly 87% to trade around 4.22 US dollars a share.

Whether zero-commission trading becomes the product that finally turns Gemini's fortunes around, or simply another line item in a still-loss-making business, is a question the coming quarters will likely answer.