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The Abu Dhabi Global Financial Services Regulatory Authority has granted financial services authorization to cryptocurrency firm Rain to provide brokerage and custody services to residents.
In a July 25 statement, Rein said the regulatory approval would allow certain institutional and retail users from the United Arab Emirates to “buy, sell, trade and store virtual assets” through the platform. The trading firm is also partnering with a local bank to facilitate service under “local regulator oversight and a thorough legal framework” to protect users, Rain’s CEO Joseph Dallago said.
“This is a 5-year work since we were one of the first exchanges to request a license back in 2018 when ADGM released its virtual asset structure,” Dallago said.
Rain Trading Limited (Rain ADGM) has been granted the first Financial Services Permission (FSP) by Abu Dhabi Global Market’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority to operate a virtual assets brokerage and custody service. pic.twitter.com/EyxCj4HbNy
— rain (@rain) July 25, 2023
Related: UAE Becomes Bitcoin Mining Spot in the Middle East
In November 2022, cryptocurrency exchange Binance received a similar regulatory clearance in Abu Dhabi after receiving an in-principle approval from the financial regulator in April. The green light came amid a major crash in the cryptocurrency market and the collapse of several large firms, including FTX. CEO Changpeng Zhao was attending Abu Dhabi Fiscal Week at the time of approval.
According to Rain’s website, the platform is primarily focused on providing cryptocurrency services in the Middle East and Turkey, headquartered in Bahrain. While the Abu Dhabi Global Marketplace Financial Services Regulatory Authority issued permits to both Rain and Binance, the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority issued notices to the heads of the Open Exchange digital asset platform in May and suspended the BitOasis license in July.
