The world’s leading blockchain infrastructure provider and cryptocurrency exchange Binance has been leading the headlines in the past few days.
The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) gave Binance a crypto-asset service provider license, while it has also been granted permission to be the first anchor at the Dubai World Trade Center.
The exchange’s first regulatory approvals in the Middle East came in the form of this license. The license from Bahrain’s central bank is Binance’s first in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)’s Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region.
With the crypto-asset license Binance will now be able to provide crypto-asset trading, custodial services, and portfolio management to consumers under the supervision of Bahrain regulators.
Changpeng Zhao (CZ), founder and CEO of Binance, said, “The license from Bahrain is a milestone in our journey to being fully licensed and regulated around the world.”
Thanking Team Bahrain, HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, and Prime Minister, CZ added that he is proud of the team “to meet the stringent criteria of the Central Bank of Bahrain” implemented to “protect users with strong anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing policies.”
Bahrain was one of the region’s early users of digital assets and sees the license as a positive step for the country’s embryonic crypto business. Binance received preliminary clearance for the license in December last year but had to go through the entire application procedure before receiving the final license.
Binance is also expanding its foothold in the United Arab Emirates. It announced in December that it was collaborating with the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) to help establish an international virtual asset ecosystem a.k.a ‘Crypto Zone’.
