DUBAI, July 25 (Reuters) – Middle Eastern crypto exchange Rain said on Tuesday its Abu Dhabi unit obtained a license to operate a virtual assets brokerage and custody service for clients in the United Arab Emirates.
The Bahrain-headquartered Rain, backed by Coinbase, said its entity based in the Abu Dhabi Global Market financial freezone will now offer institutional clients and some retail clients in the UAE the ability to buy, sell and store virtual assets.
Rain will also be able to open a bank account in the UAE, and allow clients in the country to fund their own accounts when using the local payment network, co-founder Yehia Badawy said in an interview on Tuesday.
Local asset managers have been hesitant to work with crypto firms without a domestic licence, he continued, adding they will now feel more comfortable after it obtained regulatory approval.
Founded in 2016 by Yehia Badawy, Abdullah Almoaiqel, AJ Nelson and Joseph Dallago, Rain got its first impetus in February 2017 when it contacted the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB). The session with CBB that saw the four entrepreneurs explain the potential of a cryptocurrency exchange in the region, soon made Rain the first such exchange to enter the Bank’s Regulatory Sandbox Program.
– The World’s leading Cryptocurrency exchange Binance landed a UAE license last year –
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