The Binance cryptocurrency exchange has been granted a license to offer cryptocurrency services. This is The Cooperation Council’s first license for Gulf Arab states.
Binance cryptocurrency exchange has been granted a license to offer cryptocurrency services
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, announced on Tuesday that it has been granted a license to operate as a crypto asset service provider in Bahrain, bolstering the company’s presence in the Middle East as its trading platform comes under increasing scrutiny from financial regulators around the world.
Binance’s co-founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao said, “The Bahrain license represents a milestone toward our goal of becoming fully licensed and regulated worldwide.” Zhao added, “I’m proud of the Binance team’s commitment to meeting and surpassing regulators’ requirements and protecting users with robust anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing policies.”
The Government of Bahrain has implemented a distinct approach to cryptocurrencies compared to most other governments, which do not regulate the asset class. Crypto exchanges can offer their customers both on-ramp and off-ramp payment options through the CBB.
As Bahrain’s CBB does not restrict crypto payments, Bahrain is ahead of its Middle East rivals in the digital currency race. Bahrain Economic Development Board CEO Khalid Humaidan stated.
As its massive crypto trading unit comes under attack from regulators in at least a dozen other countries, Binance, a Cayman Islands-based company, has shifted its focus to the Middle East. This is primarily because of concerns over the firm’s anti-money laundering practices and the investment risks it poses to traders.
After its Singapore-based parent company, Eqonex signed a strategic relationship with Binance’s payments arm, the UK’s financial watchdog claimed it lacked the competence to investigate the “fitness and propriety” of the new beneficial owner of crypto-asset custodian Digivault.
The Financial Conduct Authority, which warned Binance last year for operating without authorization, said its worries about the exchange had not been resolved.
Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) CEO Khalid Humaidan said: “With robust laws and a broad talent pool in the financial services, fintech, and technology sectors, Team Bahrain has established a world-class infrastructure to serve the fast-growing blockchain and crypto industries. Our ambition to build the Kingdom of Bahrain as a global business hub would be aided by collaboration with industry giants like Binance.”
Binance features an unmatched portfolio of crypto products and offerings that includes trading and finance, education, data and research, social good, investment, and incubation, as well as decentralized solutions and infrastructure.
