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Kraken has closed its offices in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as it grapples with plunging trading volumes amid a bear market.
The U.S. exchange has been hit hard by dwindling trading volumes over the past year, announcing a 30% layoff in December, citing “macroeconomic and geopolitical factors.”
Bloomberg now Report, the closure of the Abu Dhabi office is part of the restructuring. The exchange will also lay off around eight staff focused on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
However, the exchange will retain some employees based in Abu Dhabi.The region’s managing director, Benjamin Ampen, will remain with the company to assist with the transition, but is expected to step down exchange soon.
Kraken also suspended trading in the UAE’s currency, the dirham, or AED, but said its customers in the UAE would still be able to access its platform. Customer deposits in AED are automatically converted to U.S. dollars and can then be withdrawn, an exchange spokesperson told the media.
“Kraken regularly reviews its lines of business to ensure we are using resources globally to best achieve our mission of accelerating cryptocurrency adoption,” the spokesperson explain.
The exchange left the UAE less than a year after receiving a license to expand into the Middle East market. In April, Kraken received a license to operate in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). At the time, managing director Curtis Ting was optimistic, claim The district “is ready and they’ve been waiting for a regulated product like ours.”
Abu Dhabi’s withdrawal comes just one month after Kraken announced it was withdrawing from Japan.In a blog post on December 28, the exchange explain It will be deregistered with the Financial Services Agency because “there is currently no reason to further develop the resources required for our operations in Japan.”
These headwinds come as the exchange transitions from more than a decade under the leadership of founder Jesse Powell.this controversial CEO step down After describing working at an exchange as ‘less fun and boring’, possibly because of the ‘cryptocurrency’ era wild west‘Already behind us, the authorities have asked VASPs to take a professional and regulated approach.
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