Crypto Exchanges
By Dan Saada
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Revolut Secures Central Bank Licenses. At roughly the same moment, Revolut has reportedly obtained central bank licenses in the UAE,…
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Two Bets on the Same Market. CoinMENA and Revolut are chasing the same basic thesis: the UAE is a high-value, underpenetrated…
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CoinMENA has teamed up with Standard Chartered to shore up its fiat payment infrastructure in the UAE.
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The partnership is pretty much about plumbing — the unglamorous but essential kind. CoinMENA wants smoother, faster fiat rails so users can move money in and out of digital…
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At roughly the same moment, Revolut has reportedly obtained central bank licenses in the UAE, clearing the regulatory hurdle it needed before a local launch.
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The UAE's financial regulators have been fairly deliberate about who gets in and on what terms. Central bank licensing isn't a rubber stamp.
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No launch date has been confirmed. No details on which specific services Revolut plans to lead with in the UAE.
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CoinMENA and Revolut are chasing the same basic thesis: the UAE is a high-value, underpenetrated market for digital financial services, and the window to grab early positioning…
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More context: World Bank Drops $900 Million on Argentina as Inflation Crisis Grinds On
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And there's real appetite there. The UAE has spent years building itself into a regional financial hub, and digital asset adoption across the Gulf has climbed steadily.
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Whether the two companies end up competing directly is kind of an open question. CoinMENA is primarily a crypto exchange.
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Standard Chartered's role in the CoinMENA deal is worth watching separately. The bank has been active in the digital asset space globally, and its willingness to plug into a…
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CoinMENA hasn't said how deep the Standard Chartered integration goes — whether it covers only UAE dirham transactions, whether it extends to other currencies, or whether there…
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Read also: Standard Chartereds Research Signals UNI Token Could Hit $100 by 2030
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What's clear is that both moves add competitive pressure to existing financial platforms in the UAE.
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