After 5 Years of Effort Rain Joins Growing Crypto Market in the Middle East

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The Middle
East is becoming an increasingly attractive location for a growing number of
cryptocurrency exchanges. After Binance obtained authorization from the
regulator in Abu Dhabi <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/abu-dhabi-grants-permission-to-binance-to-offer-custodial-services/" target="_blank" rel="follow">in November 2022</a>, more companies have begun appearing in the
local market. The latest is Rain Trading Limited, which has received the Financial
Services Permission (FSP) issued by the Abu Dhabi Global Market's (ADGM)
Financial Services Regulatory Authority.</p><p>Rain Joins Licensed Firms in Abu Dhabi</p><p>Abu Dhabi
and Dubai are among the most populated of the seven administrative regions in
the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Both jurisdictions issue separate permits for
providing financial services, and while Dubai has recently seemed more popular,
Abu Dhabi is also not lagging behind the rising popularity of the
cryptocurrency trend in the Middle East.</p><p>Rain
announced yesterday (Tuesday) that it had obtained permission to provide
brokerage and custody services in the digital asset market. It has also
partnered with a local bank to settle client deposits in accordance with local
regulations.</p><blockquote><p lang="en" dir="ltr">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. <a href="https://t.co/EyxCj4HbNy">pic.twitter.com/EyxCj4HbNy</a></p>— Rain (@rain) <a href="https://twitter.com/rain/status/1683762713078423553?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 25, 2023</a></blockquote><p>Rain's CEO,
Joseph Dallago, stated that the fight to get the license lasted for five years.
Rain was one of the first companies to apply for authorization in 2018 when
ADGM presented its virtual asset framework.</p><blockquote><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Today, Rain is launching in the UAE, as the first licensed retail exchange. This is a 5 year effort, as we were one of the first exchanges to enquire about licensure back in 2018, when the ADGM released their virtual asset framework.</p>— Joseph Dallago (@_jayd3e) <a href="https://twitter.com/_jayd3e/status/1683774860961497090?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 25, 2023</a></blockquote><p>"UAE residents will now be able to fund their accounts in minutes, thanks to a partnership with a local UAE bank. Furthermore, customers are further protected through the supervision of a local regulator and thorough legal framework," Dallago added.</p><p>As
mentioned earlier, Binance has been operating in the local market since
November of last year. Previously, it received in-principle approval to provide
its services. In addition to Abu Dhabi, many exchanges are opening up to
the UAE through Dubai, where the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA)
licenses are issued. Recently, Bitget, <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/bybit-secures-authorization-in-dubai-amid-regulatory-reshuffle/" target="_blank" rel="follow">ByBit</a>, and <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/okx-receives-license-for-operations-in-dubai-plans-expansion/" target="_blank" rel="follow">OKX </a>have all received
authorization in the emirate.</p><p>For
Binance, <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/binance-mulls-over-middle-east-focus-amid-regulatory-pressure-in-the-west/" target="_blank" rel="follow">the Middle East is becoming an important jurisdiction</a>, especially
in light of regulatory issues in the United States and around the world.
According to Alexa Chehade, the General Manager of Binance Dubai, the UAE could
become the primary target for cryptocurrency firms seeking favorable and
transparent regulations.</p><p>The Middle East Becomes a
Crypto Hub</p><p>According
to data related to the adoption of <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/terms/c/cryptocurrencies/">cryptocurrencies</a> in the Middle East and
North Africa, this region is the fastest-growing area in the cryptocurrency
industry, accounting for 9.2% of global transactions in 2021-2022. In the UAE
alone, a staggering increase in the number of registered cryptocurrency
companies of 400% was noted over two years.</p><p>At the same
time, the region has seen an increase of threefold in the number of educational
programs related to <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/terms/b/blockchain/">blockchain</a>, contributing to an 8% rate of hash mining. All
these factors have led to an increasing number of exchanges deciding to enter
the local market and set up their offices in Dubai or Abu Dhabi.</p><p>Furthermore,
the local market has tremendous potential in terms of the number of retail
investors. This is confirmed by FX/CFD market data, where the number
of investors is constantly growing despite a global downturn.</p><p>In
addition, according to Binance MENA statistics, the majority of cryptocurrency
holders currently live in the UAE. This represents 28% of all residents of the
UAE, meaning that one in four people in the country own cryptocurrencies.</p>

This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.