Cryptocurrency
Binance Receives License to Operate in Dubai
Dubai has granted Binance a virtual license to partly operate in the country.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange platform, Binance has just secured a licence to conduct part operations in Dubai.
The company disclosed that it has been awarded a virtual asset licence from Dubai’s recently launched Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA). The crypto-based company disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday, 16th March.
This is coming on the heels of another license from Gulf neighbour country, Bahrain on Tuesday, 15th March, when Binance was licensed in the middle-east country as a crypto-asset service provider – making it the first of such licence from a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) country.
“Binance will be permitted to extend limited exchange products and services to pre-qualified investors and professional financial service providers. All licensed VARA service providers will be monitored progressively to open access to the retail market,” Binance said in a statement.
The crypto company also disclosed that it will also anchor a blockchain technology centre in the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC).
This update is a remarkable breakthrough for the crypto company that has been sanctioned by many countries. Binance is one of the major targets for financial regulators across the world – from banning the platform from certain activities to others warning consumers that it was not licensed to operate in their jurisdictions.
The issuing of the licenses may appear like a desperate move for the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Gulf region’s financial capital, as it has been pushing to develop its virtual asset sector and regulation to attract new forms of business as regional economic competition heats up.
“Binance will be able to operate its regional business from Dubai in the newly announced regulatory ecosystem that is subject to comprehensive legislation and internationally applicable policy frameworks,” DWTC Authority Director General Helal Saeed Almarri said.
The licensing update is also coming on the heels of a recent announcement by the crypto platform where the launch of a new paytech platform, Bifinity, was announced as the company’s official fiat-to-crypto payments provider.
Dubai is one of the most promising places for tech growth and with Binance aspiration for Web 3.0, this can be a good feat for Dubai.