Yueqi Yang
Ben Bartenstein
Binance Holdings Ltd. said it received a license from Bahrain’s central bank to be a crypto-asset service provider in the kingdom.
The license, granted following an in-principle in December, marks the first regulatory approval for a BINANCE entity within the Middle East. It will allow Binance to provide crypto-asset trading, custodial services and portfolio management to customers under the supervision of the Bahrain regulators. Chief Executive Officer Changpeng Zhao announced the decision in a tweet Monday.
#TeamBahrain#Binance has been granted the first license for a global crypto-asset provider in The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) by the Central Bank of Bahrain. pic.twitter.com/Ndnb4xhA5y
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) March 14, 2022
Bahrain, the Gulf’s smallest economy, has been one of the Middle East’s early adopters in the digital assets space. Binance’s move underscores its increased focus on the Middle East. Founded in China in 2017, Binance has also been in talks to potentially set up a headquarters in the UAE, Bloomberg News has reported.