Kraken Awaits Approval for Regional Office in UAE
The overview of cryptocurrencies among world countries has changed over the years, as expressed in the recent news about policy changes. The United Arab Emirates is one of the few proactive nations to currently enable a healthy environment for cryptos. The changes have paid off as the country became one of the largest crypto economies accounting for 7% of the global crypto volume. Thanks to such growth, the crypto firms are now swarming into the country with much greater plans.
The cryptocurrency exchange in Germany – Kraken has made substantial moves to reach the regional market in the UAE. The primary step towards this involves establishing a local office to tailor the regional economy’s services. According to Curtis Ting, Managing Director for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at Kraken, the exchange is waiting for a license from Abu Dhabi Global Market and the Financial Services Regulatory Authority to capture the local market of the UAE.
Launched in 2011, Kraken is easily one of the earliest crypto exchanges today. New traders interested in joining the exchange should research and read this comprehensive Kraken review before going in for the deep dive. However, this UAE local launch will be a milestone in the platform’s journey as it opens up several new possibilities. Primarily, Kraken will become the first-ever crypto exchange to offer its services through the local currency, the dirham. This service will not be confined to Bitcoin and Ethereum alone but will also involve a suite of other digital assets. Moreover, this move will give local investors easy access to the global market and liquidity.
On the other hand, the UAE will be a great addition to Kraken’s portfolio, given the numbers of the country’s economy. As per the data provided by Chainanalysis for 2020-2021, the country is also responsible for transacting roughly $25 billion worth of cryptocurrencies each year. The UAE is the third in the Middle East, just behind Turkey with $132.4 billion and Lebanon with $26 billion. The COVID-19 pandemic has helped the crypto market put the UAE on the map as a web3 hub.
But that is not all that has attracted the crypto to their soil. Ronit Ghose, global head of banks research at Citi, confirms that ADGM offers “a sense of regulatory clarity.” Such welcoming policies have turned many firms to the markets of Dubai and Abu Dhabi in recent times. Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, was recently given the nod to enter Abu Dhabi and sought to employ more than 100 people for the local market. Another crypto exchange ByBit got approval to open and build its headquarters in Dubai. FTX has got a digital assets license in Dubai and expects to build a regional office shortly.
