Binance Deepens Middle East Expansion With Abu Dhabi Approval

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has received a temporary green light from Abu Dhabi regulators to deepen its expansion in the Middle East.

The company said on Sunday that it had received “in-principle” approval from the Abu Dhabi Global Markets Financial Services Authority to operate as a broker-dealer for digital assets. The company said the move is the first step towards becoming a “fully regulated virtual asset service provider” in the city.

This is the second city where Binance has been approved — the company received a crypto license in Dubai last month. The move also comes after Binance received authorization from the country’s central bank in Bahrain.

After being snubbed elsewhere, Binance has been making inroads into the Middle East.

In the UK, regulators have imposed restrictions on the company, prohibiting it from engaging in any regulated activity. In Singapore, it restricted its services after the country’s central bank warned it could breach local payments laws.

In response to a tweet from CNBC, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said the company “is not shunning elsewhere” and that “there will be more to come.”

Previously, Binance was notorious for its tendency to operate independently of local regulations. Until recently, the head of the company prided itself on not having an official headquarters.However, in response to pressure from global regulators, Binance changed tack, saying Want to be a regulated business. The company is currently evaluating where to set up its main office.

Several crypto companies, including Crypto.com and FTX, are looking to Gulf countries like the UAE as a destination to set up shop. But the region is opening its doors to the loosely regulated world of crypto at an awkward moment – the UAE was recently placed in thegreylist“Written by the Financial Action Task Force, the global anti-money laundering watchdog.