Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has obtained a crypto-asset service provider license from the Central Bank of Bahrain. This is the first license of its kind in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to be issued.
In a joint statement with Bahraini officials, Binance’s CEO Changpeng Zhao said that this is the first milestone on Binance’s journey to becoming fully licensed. He expressed his satisfaction that with this type of license the users will be protected with strong anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing policies.
The Binance license in Bahrain comes on top of them receiving a license to be the first anchor in Dubai World Trade Center. Last week, Dubai, one of the seven Emirates in the UAE, adopted its first law on governing virtual assets. The regulatory body has also been established to oversee the industry.
The Dubai license Binance has received establishes its presence in the Gulf and comes hand-in-hand with the Dubai 2022 Binance’s Blockchain Week scheduled March, 28-30 in the Dubai World Trade Center.
Binance’s licenses in Dubai and Bahrain come after the Binance controversy of some supposedly unregistered operations of the exchange in various jurisdictions around the world. It seems that this was a huge step forward for the exchange in two major aspects: establishing a middle-eastern foothold, as well as gaining the first points of approval from the regulatory bodies in the Middle East.
It remains to be seen whether this means that Binance’s license in Dubai and Bahrain are just the beginning of worldwide approval of the world’s largest exchange or if these are but stand-alone cases of regulatory approval.
Dubai has been positioning itself as the go-to digital capital in recent years. And, since the crypto industry is growing, meaning it’s worth more and more, other countries may want to follow suit. This move will certainly draw crypto investors and enthusiasts to Dubai.
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