Bitcoin News
By Dan Saada
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CoinMENA Deal and the Banking Layer. Earlier this year, Standard Chartered struck a banking agreement with CoinMENA.
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A Crowded Race for UAE Crypto Licenses. And the bank isn't moving into a quiet market. The UAE has become a magnet for crypto firms…
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Why the UAE Keeps Winning This Race. The region's appeal isn't hard to understand. Regulators like the DIFC, VARA, and the Capital…
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Standard Chartered just did something no major global bank has pulled off in the UAE before.
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It's a big deal, and not just for branding. The bank's electronic trading channels are now live for eligible institutional clients wanting direct exposure to Bitcoin and Ether.
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Earlier this year, Standard Chartered struck a banking agreement with CoinMENA. That deal covers fiat on- and off-ramps, client money accounts, and virtual account-based…
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That dual role — direct participant and infrastructure provider — is pretty unusual for a bank of this size.
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And the bank isn't moving into a quiet market. The UAE has become a magnet for crypto firms chasing regulatory legitimacy, and the pipeline of approvals is growing fast.
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Capital.com, a trading platform, secured a virtual asset license from the Capital Market Authority and plans to roll out spot crypto services to UAE clients.
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Revolut moved too. In July, the neobank got in-principle approval from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority — VARA — to offer crypto-related services.
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See also: Bitcoin Hashrate Plummets as Miners Shift Focus to AI Opportunities, Says CEO
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So the competitive picture is sharpening quickly. You've got a G-SIB doing spot trading, a trading platform with a fresh virtual asset license, and a major neobank one step away…
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The region's appeal isn't hard to understand. Regulators like the DIFC, VARA, and the Capital Market Authority have built frameworks that are demanding enough to screen out bad…
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It's also worth noting that Standard Chartered's move comes as institutional appetite for crypto exposure has grown sharply across Asia and the Middle East.
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Whether other G-SIBs follow Standard Chartered into the UAE spot market is unclear. The bank has moved faster on crypto than most of its peers — it's been building custody,…
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