Bahrain’s Central Bank issues operating licence to Binance

Blockchain and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider Binance has been granted a crypto-asset service provider license from the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB).

Binance is the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume and this is its first licence in the GCC. It will allow Binance to provide crypto-asset trading, custodial services and portfolio management to customers under the supervision of the Bahrain regulators.

“The license from Bahrain is a milestone in our journey to being fully licensed and regulated around the world. Team Bahrain has shown considerable foresight in its development of crypto regulations and provides the regulatory protections that consumers should come to expect from regulators around the world,” said Changpeng Zhao (CZ), founder and CEO of Binance.

#TeamBahrain.#Binance has been granted the first license for a global crypto-asset provider in The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) by the Central Bank of Bahrain. pic.twitter.com/Ndnb4xhA5y

— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) March 14, 2022

“I’m proud of the hard work of the Binance team to meet the stringent criteria of the Central Bank of Bahrain, not just locally but globally by ensuring that we meet and exceed the requirements of regulators and protect users with strong anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing policies,” added Zhao.

Apart from Bahrain, regionally, Binance has also signed a cooperation agreement with the Dubai World Trade Centre Authority (DWTCA) in December to establish a new international virtual assets ecosystem.

Bahrain meanwhile has been active within the digital assets space. Last year, the Central Bank of Bahrain has issued the cryptocurrency exchange, CoinMENA, with a “Crypto Asset Services Company License – Category 2”. CoinMENA is Sharia-compliant exchange, certified by the Shariyah Review Bureau.

Read: Central Bank of Bahrain licences Sharia-compliant cryptocurrency exchange CoinMENA

Earlier this year Bahrain-headquartered cryptocurrency exchange Rain raised $110m in a Series B round co-led by Kleiner Perkins and Paradigm.

Rasheed Al Maraj, governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain noted, “Developing regulations aligned with global trends is a key objective for us at the CBB. We continue to work with partners and industry leaders such as Binance to develop regulations that enable innovation and best practices.”