Kraken, a cryptocurrency exchange based in California, has been awarded a license to operate in the Abu Dhabi international financial center and free zone, Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). It has thus become the second digital assets platform after Binance to have achieved this feat.
The information has been confirmed by Kraken’s managing director Curtis Ting himself in an interview with CNBC. He believes that it is of utmost importance to help bring global liquidity to local investors, saying:
“For us, it’s really important to facilitate access to global markets and global liquidity by making sure that investors and traders in the region have access to local currencies [trading pair]. The region is ready and they've been waiting for a regulated offering like ours.”
Kraken hopes to more tightly cooperate with local banks and other regional payment services providers. As the Middle East region belongs among the fastest-growing crypto sectors, Kraken and Binance now find themselves in a rather lucrative position.
Other cryptocurrency exchanges that are currently pursuing licenses in the United Arab Emirates are Bybit and FTX. Judging by the rate of growth in this region, it would not be surprising to hear about more exchanges trying to enter the UAE market soon.