UAE Grants Crypto License to Coinbase-Backed Exchange Rain

• The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has granted a license to Rain, a Middle Eastern cryptocurrency exchange, to operate a crypto asset brokerage and custody service for local customers.
• Rain is supported by Coinbase and its clients in the UAE can buy, sell, and safely store crypto assets.
• The UAE is one of the few countries that has implemented a set of comprehensive crypto regulations.

The UAE Grants Crypto License to Exchange Supported by Coinbase

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has granted a license to Rain Trading Limited (Rain ADGM), a Middle Eastern cryptocurrency exchange, to operate a crypto asset brokerage and custody service for local customers. Rain is supported by Coinbase [BASE] and its clients in the UAE can buy, sell, and safely store crypto assets.

UAE Promoting Crypto Use

The UAE is actively seeking out new opportunities in the crypto space as part of its efforts to increase adoption and transaction volumes in the region. In October 2022, blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis published a report focusing on global crypto adoption which found MENA regions were among top adopters of cryptocurrencies with use cases for savings and remittance payments as top contributors. The report identified Dubai as being quite friendly towards cryptos amidst countries with ambiguous or non-existent regulations around them. To further promote virtual assets usage in the country, the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) was established with an aim of making UAE an international hub for virtual assets.

Rain Raises Funds

Rain was established in 2017 and has since received funding from Silicon Valley’s Kleiner Perkins and Coinbase Ventures. Last year it raised $110 million in Series B fundraising round resulting into $500 million valuation for the exchange.

Rain Clients Get Bank Account in UAE

Being licensed now allows Rain’s entity based in Abu Dhabi to open bank account within the country’s borders allowing local clients fund their accounts through domestic payment network.

Conclusion

The United Arab Emirates continues its efforts towards encouraging digital asset utilization with latest licensing of Rain cryptocurrency exchange enabling it offering services such as buying/selling/safely storing cryptocurrencies along with access to local banking system which will undoubtedly help accelerate broader adoption across MENA region while also promoting Kuwait as regional & international hub for virtual assets usage