US cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has just announced it intends to open an office in Abu Dhabi after obtaining a license to operate a regulated trading platform in the United Arab Emirates, CNBC has reported.
Curtis Ting, the company's chief executive officer for EMEA, has said:
"We're incredibly excited to be able to set up our operations right in the ADGM."
Once approved, Kraken will provide users with deposit/withdrawal options, as well as trading in the dirham, the local currency.
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According to Chainalysis, the Middle East is one of the fastest growing crypto markets in the world, accounting for 7% of global trading volumes.
From July 2020 to June 2021, the UAE ranked third in the region on this indicator after Lebanon and Turkey.
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In the spring of 2022, Binance received approval in principle from the ADGM to operate as a virtual asset exchange broker. The company previously became the owner of a license to provide cryptocurrency services in Dubai.