Kraken, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, has secured a license to operate its virtual asset trading platform in Abu Dhabi and has established its regional offices there.
The number of bitcoin exchanges licensed to operate in the United Arab Emirates is growing. According to Dhaher bin Dhaher, Chief Executive Officer of Abu Dhabi Global Market’s Registration Authority, the company would begin operations in the second or third quarter. Clients will be able to invest, trade, withdraw and deposit virtual assets directly in dirhams through Kraken, which has over 8 million users worldwide.
Virtual asset service providers are trying to increase their presence in the UAE because of its “progressive” approach, according to Dhaher, who stated in an interview that nations around the world are adopting a challenging position on crypto legislation.
Oil-rich United Arab Emirates has increased its attempts to recruit the world’s top crypto businesses. The ADGM of Abu Dhabi established a virtual asset regulatory framework in 2018, while Dubai just enacted legislation regulating virtual assets.
ADGM has given Binance Holdings Ltd., the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, preliminary clearance to operate as a virtual asset broker-dealer. This happened just a month after the company was granted a Dubai business license.
Last month, FTX, one of Binance’s biggest rivals, got a virtual asset service provider license in Dubai and announced ambitions to open a regional headquarters there. BitOasis, the country’s first VASP, has also received provisional certification from the regulatory authority, while By bit and Crypto.com are extending their operations.
According to statistics published by Chainalysis from July 2020 to June 2021, the UAE is the Middle East’s third-largest crypto market, following Turkey and Lebanon, with a transaction volume of almost $26 billion.
Binance’s co-founder and CEO, Changpeng Zhao, told Bloomberg last month that he will be based in Dubai for the “foreseeable future” and that it is the company’s headquarters by “any common understanding.” In the coming months, he expects many of the company’s employees to follow his lead and relocate to the skyscraper-studded city.
