Kraken Becomes Fully Licenced in UAE

Behemoth cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has become the first trading platform to obtain complete licensing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) made the announcement on Monday, detailing that Kraken has become “the first global virtual assets exchange group in the UAE to receive a full financial license from ADGM.”

The ADGM is an “international financial center and free zone” in Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s capital. Abu Dhabi has become the largest regulated jurisdiction of digital asset activities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The ADGM reported:

“Kraken is the first global cryptocurrency exchange to receive a Financial Services Permission (FSP) license to operate a regulated virtual asset exchange platform in the ADGM to service the needs of the Middle East and North Africa region.

Kraken has met all approval conditions from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of ADGM to operate as a Virtual Asset Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF) and Custodian in Abu Dhabi and the wider UAE.”

Kraken Bags Licensing After Establishing Middle East Headquarters in Abu Dhabi

Explaining that Kraken has situated its Middle East headquarters in ADGM, the regulatory organization noted: “Kraken will be the first global virtual assets exchange group in the UAE to offer investors the ability to invest, trade, withdraw and deposit virtual assets (bitcoin and ether) directly in local AED currency.”

In early April, the FSRA published a discussion paper on decentralized finance (DeFi). In March, the FSRA published another consultation paper introducing notable changes to its capital markets regulatory framework, including cryptocurrency.

Interestingly, the regulatory entity gave Binance an in-principle approval earlier this month “to operate as a broker-dealer in virtual assets.”