Binance is expanding its presence in the Middle East, and the company’s CEO said there is more to come.
Leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance has obtained a provisional green light from Abu Dhabi regulators. This latest development sees the company deepen its presence in the Middle East following its earlier expansion into Bahrain.
Binance announced over the weekend that it was granted approval in principle by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Abu Dhabi Global Market. The approval means Binance can serve as a broker-dealer in digital assets in the region.
The cryptocurrency exchange added that this latest development is a step toward becoming a fully-regulated virtual asset service provider in Abu Dhabi.
Abu Dhabi is the second city in the United Arabs Emirates Binance has obtained approval after obtaining a cryptocurrency licence in Dubai last month.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has stated that more is to come, implying that the cryptocurrency exchange will expand to more territories in the Middle East.
The cryptocurrency exchange has shifted its focus to the Middle East and Africa after receiving tough regulatory conditions in some parts of Europe. Last year, Binance was restricted from operating in the United Kingdom.
It received warning in a few other European countries, including The Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. Furthermore, Binance restricted its services in Singapore and Hong Kong after receiving warnings that it might be in violation of local payment laws.
In China, Binance shut down its operations following the effective ban of cryptocurrency trading activities in the Asian country. Binance allowed Chinese residents to leverage its peer-to-peer platform but had to shut it down following China’s latest regulation last year.
Despite the challenges, Binance remains the number one cryptocurrency exchange globally. Currently, Binance processes over $19 billion in daily trading volume, far ahead of Coinbase, Crypto.com, FTX and OKX, which all process less than $5 billion in daily trading volume.
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