Crypto platform gets approval from central bank

Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange, has received initial approval from the Central Bank of Bahrain to be the service provider of crypto assets in the Gulf country, Bloomberg reported.

Binance still needs to complete an application process, CEO Changpeng Zhao wrote in an email to Bloomberg News.

If successful, this will mark the first regulatory approval for the cryptocurrency exchange in the Middle East and North Africa. Binance is expanding its regional presence, as executives prepare to set up potential headquarters in the Gulf countries.

Bahrain has been one of the Middle East’s early adopters of digital assets. The Gulf’s smallest economy approved the first licensed crypto-asset platform in the region, Rain Financial, in 2019, and granted another license to Manama-based CoinMENA earlier this year.