Binance has been growing in the Middle East market rapidly. Recently, Abu Dhabi gave the famous cryptocurrency exchange a provisional green line that will hugely deepen its expansion across the Middle East. The Financial Services Regularity Authority gave in-principle approval to the company, allowing it to function as a broker-dealer in crypto assets. Binance believes the move is the beginning of the company to become a regulated digital assets service provider in Abu Dhabi after the company secured approval in Dubai.
Binance received a crypto license from Dubai Finance Service Regulatory in March 2022. The move came after Binance got authorization to work as a licensed broker-dealer for virtual assets in Bahrain in December last year. The company had to complete the application before obtaining the full license.
The central bank of Bahrain granted a digital asset service provider license, allowing the crypto exchange to work in the country and provide numerous services, including cryptocurrency trading and portfolio management services to the customers in Bahrain. The Bahrain Economic Development Board CEO Khalid Humaidan said that Bahrain is pleased to establish a top-notch infrastructure to support the growing blockchain and cryptocurrency industry with healthy regulations across the country.
Upon receiving the license from the central bank of Bahrain, the company said that it was Binance’s first authorization in the region of the Middle East/North Africa or MENA. According to a press announcement released by the founder and CEO of the company, Changpeng Zhao, this Bahraini license is a milestone in Binance’s journey of becoming a fully licensed business around the globe.
Earlier, Binance did not find desired growth in several European nations. Instead, it went through scorching fire from regulators in many countries, including Japan and the United Kingdom, last year. The firm experienced restrictions by the UK regulators, barring it from carrying out any crypto-related activity in the country. Binance’s experience in Singapore was also not good, and the Singaporean central bank limited its services, saying the company may be violating the local payment laws.
Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, decided to respond to a tweet from CNBC. He said that the company is not avoided elsewhere, and there is a lot more to come in the coming days. In the past, Binance was infamous for its inclination to serve local regulations independently, though its boss had no official headquarters anywhere. However, the company has changed its track to become a regulated business in response to pressure that has kept coming from worldwide regulators. Binance is currently seeking to evaluate where to set up its primary bureau to establish its regulations.
Aside from Binance, numerous crypto companies, such as FTX and crypto.com, have started seeking various Gulf countries, such as the UAE, to serve as a destination to establish a shop. Surprisingly, the Middle East/North Africa region has opened its doors to cryptocurrency at an awkward time, despite the UAE being on the “gray list” by the global money-laundering watchdog, the Financial Action Task.
According to Binance, the company obtained provisional authorization to work as a broker-dealer in digital assets in Abu Dhabi. It is their first step toward operating as a fully regulated cryptocurrency service provider in the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. In particular, the crypto exchange received In-Principle Approval (IPA) from the FSRA of ADGM for a Financial Services Permission.
After the successful FSRA ADGM application, Binance can use its subordinate Binance AD Limited to provide customers with its virtual asset offerings and services in North Africa and the Middle East.