Switching to the Satoshi standard and Lightning Network connectivity makes Bitcoin more tangible and easy to use. AAX has made the first move in the crypto space, already providing BTC to SAT
Kraken Receives ADGM License
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Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) said on Monday it has licenced the Kraken group to operate a regulated virtual asset exchange platform in the financial free zone.
Kraken is the first global virtual assets exchange group in the United Arab Emirates to receive a full financial licence from the ADGM, it said.
Kraken MENA (Middle East and North Africa) aims to provide access to virtual assets through regulated funding, trading, and custodial services in dirhams, UAE’s currency.
ADGM introduced a virtual asset regulatory framework in 2018 and has since established itself as a leading global hub and business platform for virtual asset activities for local, regional and international firms.
UAE’s main business hub, Dubai, has also been attracting crypto-currency firms as it issued its first law governing digital assets and formed the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) to oversee the sector in March.
MENA Fintech Association releases the SHIFT report
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The MENA Fintech Association (MFTA), the leading voice of the fintech community in the region, has released the first volume of the SHIFT report, a comprehensive guide that supports the fintech community in navigating the MENA payment landscape.
“SHIFT” is the name of the working group, which is composed of the association’s members. These industry leaders are focused on payment technology solutions and services, financial education and regulation, and international card networks. They include The London Institute of Banking & Finance (LIBF), Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), Arthur D. Little, BPC, checkout.com, Codebase Technologies, GPS, Karm, Mastercard, M2P Solutions, Marshal, Taptap Send and YAP. The working group was formed with the objectives of stimulating insightful conversations on regional prime payment topics and fostering a shift towards the future of payments.
The comprehensive SHIFT guide will be released in several volumes that cover the core aspects of payments, from regulation, technology and processing to information on trends in specific countries, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Iraq and others.
The release of the first volume, “SHIFT – MENA Payments Landscaping”, sets the scene. It contains everything a fintech needs to know about the regional payments market. It draws a picture of a diverse region undergoing a significant transformation in how payments are made.
Although the banking sector has been relatively slow to adopt digital payments compared to other parts of the world, a number of factors and trends that are discussed in this report indicate that digital payments are becoming more commonplace across MENA and are disrupting the traditional value chain for payments.
The report describes interesting and continuing developments in the region that are key drivers for change:
- The rise in real-time and faster electronic payment methods
- The growth of embedded payments
- The blurring of lines between payments and lending/investments, such as buy now pay later
- How cash is still a significant element of the overall payments landscape
- The shift in the competitive landscape with the rise of substitute fintech offerings
Arjun Singh, Partner and Head of Financial Services Middle East at Arthur D. Little and a contributor to the SHIFT report, commented: ‘’What’s driving the rapid change in the MENA payments landscape is the region’s demographically young societies, who are well versed in the use of digital technology and are contributing to the trend of moving away from cash as a traditional medium of exchange.’’
He continued: ‘’Recent developments in regulatory initiatives that support a digital economy and cashless society and the impact of pandemic-driven digitalisation on all aspects of daily life have led to an increase in the number of fintechs in the region. These businesses are now replicating successful global models. Moreover, there is an increasing investment from VC and PE firms in the region within the payments sector.’’
Nameer Khan, Chairman of MENA Fintech Association further commented: ’’Payment is the heart of fintech and the backbone of our economies, plus at the pace we are becoming cashless as a society, it’s pivotal for the industry to support its development. This is the first time that the industry has come together to share their knowledge in an all-in-one guide that will serve to foster healthy payment competition and innovation in the MENA region. I invite fintechs to download the report and interact with MFTA members and the contributors of this report.’’
Christian Kunz, Head of Group Strategy and Innovation at DIFC Authority, commented: “The FinTech sector is witnessing rapid growth and we are delighted to be taking part in creating a comprehensive guide for the FinTech community. At DIFC, we are committed to developing start-up companies through our acceleration programmes that provide innovative solutions and stimulate the growth of companies’ businesses within integrated regulatory frameworks.”
Subsequent volumes of the report will cover regulatory and know-your-customer prerequisites, card-issuing models and best practices, cross-border payments and trending products, such as store value cards.
The SHIFT report is available from the MFTA website using this link.
Securrency Capital secures Financial Services Permission from Abu Dhabi Global Market
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Securrency Capital, a broker-dealer based in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), today announced that it has secured a Financial Services Permission (FSP) from ADGM’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) to deal in investments as a matched principal and provide custody for those investments. The license enables Securrency Capital to provide trading of digital assets to a variety of clients, including retail clients.
“We are honored to have been granted an FSP by ADGM as a Category 3A brokerage,” said Amir Tabch, Chairman and CEO of Securrency Capital. “With this license, we will be able to leverage Securrency’s unparalleled proprietary asset tokenization technology, which automates multi-jurisdictional compliance and financial services and enables the movement of regulated value at the speed of tomorrow.”
Securrency Capital is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Securrency, Inc., a US-based global financial markets infrastructure technology company that has developed best-in-class proprietary digital asset technology supporting the issuance, governance, and life cycle management of regulatory-compliant tokens, including clawback of value in the event of theft or fraud. Securrency, Inc. works closely with world-class institutional banking partners and leading asset managers to enable their seamless transition into the digital assets space. Securrency’s deep technology stack, coupled with Securrency Capital’s on-chain identity services, allows for secure, transparent ownership of tokenized assets.
“Being based in the ADGM has allowed us to leverage the wealth of knowledge from the regional firms, as well as the sophistication of our regulator, the FSRA, to deliver a global marketplace and distribution network for finding and trading all types of digital assets,” explained Phil Langton, COO at Securrency Capital. “Securrency Capital is now at the forefront of migrating traditional trading on blockchain networks and opening up new distribution channels to the multichain ecosystem and the metaverse. We are confident that we have built a strong foundation on which to grow and look forward to expanding our global footprint with the implementation of our partnership framework and our technology partnership with Securrency.”
“ADGM is a rapidly growing world-class financial center,” added John Hensel, Chief Operating Officer of Securrency, Inc. “Securrency Capital will be at the center of the dynamic and rapidly-growing digital assets marketplace in ADGM for which retail and institutional clients have been waiting. We are proud of Amir and his team at Securrency Capital and look forward to supporting their rapid growth.”
ADGM has built and aims to maintain an accessible and secure international financial center that nurtures innovation, promotes market transparency and trust, and encourages sustainable growth and stability. The receipt of its FSP from the ADGM’s responsible and pragmatic regulator affirms Securrency Capital’s commitment to be a trusted partner who can provide quality and reliable digital asset services in this ecosystem and globally.
Securrency Capital’s FSP will enable it to achieve its goal of offering a transparent and reliable platform through which global investors can trade digital assets. As a firm founded with an ethos of responsibility and compliance, Securrency Capital consistently interacts with regulatory bodies to firmly establish the level of trust needed to assure those new to the digital financial assets market.
“ADGM’s regulatory approval is a significant milestone for us,” said Praveer Pinto, Compliance Director at Securrency Capital. “We intend to use this as a foundation to further our commitment to achieving compliance with our regulatory requirements and playing our part in maintaining the integrity of the financial services ecosystem for our clients and the community.”
Securrency Capital’s platform is expected to go live soon after securing additional approvals from the FSRA.
Binance awarded In-Principle Approval for a Financial Services Permission from Abu Dhabi Global Market
Binance, the world’s leading blockchain and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider, has received its In-Principle Approval (IPA) for a Financial Services Permission (FSP) from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (the FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) to operate as a broker-dealer in virtual assets. Applying for the FSP from the ADGM FSRA is part of its plans in establishing itself as a fully-regulated virtual asset service provider.
ADGM, the International Financial Centre in the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), introduced the world’s first comprehensive and robust virtual asset regulatory framework in 2018 and has since established itself as a leading global hub and business platform for virtual asset activities for local, regional and international organisations.
Dhaher bin Dhaher, CEO, Registration Authority of Abu Dhabi Global Market, said: “We are pleased that Binance has been awarded an In-Principle Approval in the ADGM and are excited to support them as they work towards establishing their foothold and presence in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE. ADGM is the largest regulated jurisdiction of virtual assets in MENA region and Binance’s participation will add to its vibrant and trusted ecosystem of virtual asset trading venues, global exchanges and service providers.
ADGM’s virtual asset framework is well recognised globally for its inclusive regulations and robust provisions and it is part of ADGM’s ongoing commitment, as an International Financial Centre, to bolster the economic growth of Abu Dhabi and to uphold the transparency and integrity of the marketplace.
ADGM will continue to actively expand the business offerings and unlock new investments opportunities in the UAE, and enable virtual asset partners like Binance to support the growing financial needs of the investors and businesses across the region.”
Richard Teng, Head of MENA for Binance, said: “Binance has been actively engaging global regulators, such as ADGM, as part of its ongoing commitment to uphold global standards and collectively foster the developments and sustainable growth of the crypto ecosystem. ADGM is the pioneer in introducing robust virtual asset regulatory frameworks to support the growth of the global blockchain ecosystem. We are grateful for their support during our application process and look forward to working closely with ADGM and other key Abu Dhabi stakeholders for broader deployment of our world-class offerings and services across the whole MENA region and beyond.”
Upon the successful completion of its ADGM FSRA application, Binance will then be able to offer its services regarding virtual asset offerings to customers across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, through its subsidiary Binance (AD) Limited.
EQIFi Launches DeFi Mobile App, Boasting Access to Yield Aggregator Product with Up to 70% APY
EQIFI, the decentralized finance (DeFi) platform for borrowing, trading, and investing in digital assets, backed by a regulated bank, has announced the launch of its mobile application, providing enhanced smartphone accessibility to the EQIFi DeFi product suite. The app provides access to EQIFi’s most sought-after products, including the EQIFi yield aggregator which offers up to 70% APY. The app also offers peer-to-peer crypto transfers with zero fees, access to a variety of crypto wallets, and the ability to make purchases in crypto through DeFi credit cards.
Brad Yasar, CEO of EQIFi, said: “With over $249 billion Total Value Locked and counting, DeFi is set to take the financial industry by storm. With this advancement, people need access to DeFi just as much as they need access to their traditional bank account. Our app is designed to create this accessibility while also encouraging users to participate in the DeFi revolution through myriad capabilities, including the increased accessibility to our yield aggregator, something we are very excited about.”
EQIFi app users have access to a variety of blockchains including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH, USDT, EQX, USDC) and Binance Smart Chain (EQX, and soon BNB). Users can engage with the yield aggregator product through their BTC, ETH, USDT & USDC holdings on the app. In addition to this, users have increased access to EQIFi’s native EQX token. The EQX token allows for in-app access to the EQIFi product suite, staking rewards, increased LTV and bonus APY. Custody for user assets on the EQIFi app is provided in partnership with Ledger.
Ioana Frincu, CTO of EQIFi, said: “As DeFi adoption continues to boom, interactions with DeFi technology are becoming increasingly sophisticated. It is a natural step for EQIFi to bring the latest DeFi technology directly to our user base through the launch of our mobile app. The app will allow users to interact with EQIFi’s Yield Aggregator (which brings up to 70% APY), zero fee peer-to-peer transfers, staking and a state-of-the-art wallet ”
EQIFi is powered by EQIBank. Launched in 2015, EQIBank is one of the world’s leading digital banks and offers tax-neutral personal and corporate banking services in multiple currencies to clients in over 180 countries. EQIBank offers competitive rates, 24/7 service, trusted security, and an innovative, simple online global banking experience across all devices. EQIBank provides bank accounts, loans, custody, debit and credit cards, OTC, and wealth management to EQIFi and all its qualified clients.
The app is available to download from the App Store and Google Play.
For more information, visit www.eqifi.com.
Nexum Foundation/HBK DOP partners with The Climate Group Africa to launch Blockchain-Based Carbon Exchange Africa (CXA) a new online carbon credits exchange distribution platform
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Today, Nexum Foundation INC / HBK DOP and The Climate Group Africa announced their new big and visionary project. Committed to the vision of data disruption in the oil and shipping industry and blue investments, Nexum Foundation actively supports technological disruptions that leverage innovative data models toward a more sustainable planet. Driven by this principle Nexum Foundation today agreed to provide its cutting-edge technology platform to power a new carbon credits exchange based on blockchain technology. In partnership with HBKDOP Dubai, UAE, and The Climate Group Africa Limited, Kenya, they will develop an online carbon credits exchange that will act as the exclusive market conduit for the carbon credits awarded to The Climate Group Africa through its activities. Their aim is through this new carbon credits distribution platform to facilitate and promote the tokenization process of the carbon credit industry.
The three institutions have decided to join forces and united their complementing expertise aiming to promote Africa’s interest and increase its presence in the international carbon credit industry and bring benefits to the local communities. HBKDOP is an establishment dedicated to executing infrastructure projects globally such as energy, agriculture, oil and gas, and financial services with a particular interest in the renewables sector. The Climate Group Africa Limited develops and trades climate-related projects in Africa and South America.
Nexum Foundation’s Founder Panagiotis Georgolios expressed his gratitude and satisfaction for this collaboration by stating “We are excited with this new collaboration. Shipping is considered a major polluter. That might not be a fair characterization considering that it facilitates more than 80% of the global trade. Irrespectively, the shipping industry will need carbon credits. This initiative allows the foundation a strategic position in the carbon credit industry and supports our mission to promote the tokenization process of assets and services with tangible economic fundamentals and valuable offerings in the maritime world. We are also very happy that this effort will also support the local communities in Africa and allow them to receive real economic benefits”.
HBKDOP’s Group CEO Anwar Hussein conveyed his appreciation for this partnership by stating “We have shifted our focus to a variety of projects, including those which actively remove emissions. Ensuring climate action is truly effective and remains a top priority. Climate protection and innovation are among the fundamental building blocks for making our future sustainable. Supporting the carbon future science-based approach with our joint partners, delivering vital element, traceability and transparency, and hence the need for business and governments in working together towards building a sustainable society.”
The Climate Group Africa’s CEO Michael Shamku said “The experiences of the pandemic are promising a brighter future for climate action and sustainability as the conviction to tackle global issues has strengthened. The pressure to act on climate change has become critical and has further driven commitment from those who have been reluctant to act on sustainability. We support African Governments to benefit from Global Climate Funds (GCF) grants, loans and technical assistance in specific areas such as forestry conservation efforts, improving adaptation and mitigation capacities within Africa.”
Nexum Foundation INC is a non-profit organization, established in Singapore. Its mission is to promote blockchain technology and the tokenization of assets and services that have tangible economic fundamentals and valuable offerings to the respective community. The foundation realizes its mission by developing and deploying cutting-edge technological solutions.
Exclusive: Decoding UK Crypto Policy Approach – Jackson Mueller, Securrency
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Governments are getting crypto-curious, and with great curiosity comes extreme scrutiny and demand for abolishing anonymity when it comes to crypto transactions. Amid the EU’s bulldozering the crypto industry and the SEC posting new guidelines with recommendations for crypto exchanges, we have now a headliner – UK Government – declaring that they want to become a global crypto hub!
The UK Government statement highlights their appetite for crypto and digital assets, aiming to put the UK at the global center stage as a crypto tech hub. Many countries are aiming at the same spot (El Salvador, UAE) but let’s decode the approach UK will take and the positioning in the trifecta context – UK-EU-USA with Jackson Mueller, Director of Policy and Government Relations at Securrency.
Securrency is a blockchain-based financial markets infrastructure company focused on building a financial ecosystem to optimize financial logistics to enhance capital formation and stimulate global liquidity. Securrency is driving change at the core of financial services via a fully-interoperable distributed identity and compliance framework with state-of-the-art infrastructure designed to bridge legacy financial platforms to next-generation blockchain networks. One of the most advanced regulatory technology providers in the industry, Securrency has developed integrated, scalable, and universal compliance tools that automate the enforcement of the multi-jurisdictional regulatory policy.
Codebase Technologies launches industry-first white-label BNPL solution for banks, fintechs, lenders, and merchants
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As worldwide adoption and usage of BNPL grows as the alternative payment method of choice for today’s young consumers, Codebase Technologies has responded by developing an innovative BNPL solution to help banks tackle the threat of rising BNPL brands. Leveraging Codebase Technologies’ award-winning digital banking platform, DigibancTM, the new BNPL component allows for banks, fintechs, lenders, retailers, and anyone in between to create and launch their own branded BNPL offering. Codebase Technologies has introduced the solution to the market after months of design, development, and robust testing.
As people continue to deal with the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on jobs and the economy, BNPL has emerged as a payment method of choice for millennials and Gen Z’s looking to adapt their spending habits to their new lifestyles. According to a study by Ascent, the most common reason to use buy now, pay later services is to make purchases that don’t fit in one’s budget – 45% of respondents have used it for this reason. Furthermore, 36% of buy now, pay later customers use BNPL once a month or more. Global adoption of BNPL is estimated to continue growing as 30.09% of global customers reported that they are very unlikely to use BNPL in the next six months.
Until now, companies looking to implement BNPL into their customer offering faced two choices: build it from scratch or partner with an existing BNPL brand. Building a BNPL solution is extremely costly and can take an extended period of time to test and deploy while partnering with a BNPL provider can take control away from a company and be quite expensive in the long run. Codebase Technologies DigibancTM BNPL component is ready-made and can be fully customized to allow anyone to launch a BNPL offering in just a few months. Taking a component-based approach to building your BNPL offering can be up to 50% faster than building from scratch and can be on average 40% cheaper, in the long run, than partnering with an existing BNPL provider. Using Codebase Technologies DigibancTM BNPL component also allows for 100% customizability and ownership of the final product.
DigibancTM BNPL’s fully customizable features include an integrated customer onboarding process, detailed data on customer financials and insights, automated decisioning across the customer lifecycle, customizable customer journeys, and more. In addition, the solution is core banking agnostic allowing it to be integrated with any legacy banking systems available in the market.
Raheel Iqbal, Managing Partner at Codebase Technologies, stated, “BNPL is an exciting space, and we’ve had multiple discussions in the past few months with financial institutions who have outlined the challenges they’re facing in adapting to this new trend. BNPL providers are popping up worldwide and attracting huge numbers of customers, and banks especially are feeling the pressure. So, of course, they want to capitalize on this trend to compete and give customers better and easier ways to make purchases. Our BNPL solution gives them a way to address that and launch their own BNPL offering quickly and cost-effectively. Introducing such a solution can help increase repeat business, lower customer credit risks, increase average order value, and improve customer experiences; the benefits are extensive.”
Omar Mansur, Global Enterprise Lead at Codebase Technologies, added, “We’ve seen a gap in the BNPL market for some time, especially when it comes to banks and lenders. The BNPL space has been growing and changing quickly, and large institutions haven’t historically been the quickest to adapt to new trends. Our white label BNPL solution gives them a fantastic tool to adapt to customers’ new preferences. The best part is that our solution is ready to deploy, we simply need to integrate and customize it for an organization, so the time to market is really quick.”
The launch of DigibancTM BNPL is supported by the release of Codebase Technologies whitepaper titled “Everything you wanted to know about BNPL”. The document covers key research and insights on BNPL across the world including benefits of BNPL, customer considerations, delivery models, global BNPL overview, and more.
The whitepaper is available here: https://www.codebtech.com/everything_you_wanted_to_know_about_bnpl/
Dubai grants crypto exchange Binance a virtual asset licence
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The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance has been granted a licence to conduct some operations in Dubai, the company said on Wednesday, from where it plans to carry out regional business.
The awarding of the Virtual Asset Licence from Dubai’s recently formed Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) comes after Gulf neighbour Bahrain on Tuesday awarded Binance a crypto-asset service provider licence, its first such licence from a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) country.
“Binance will be permitted to extend limited exchange products and services to pre-qualified investors and professional financial service providers. All licensed VARA service providers will be monitored progressively to open access to the retail market,” Binance said in a statement.
The crypto company will also anchor a blockchain technology hub in the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), it said.
Financial regulators across the world have targeted Binance, with some banning the platform from certain activities and others warning consumers that it was not licensed to operate in their jurisdictions.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Gulf region’s financial capital, has been pushing to develop the virtual asset sector and regulation to attract new forms of business as regional economic competition heats up.
Binance awarded Crypto-Asset service provider license in the Kingdom of Bahrain
Binance has been granted a crypto-asset service provider license from the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB). This landmark achievement for Binance represents their first license as a crypto-asset provider in The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) and demonstrates their commitment to being in regulatory compliance as the first of its group of companies in the region.
Changpeng Zhao (CZ), founder and CEO of Binance, said: “The license from Bahrain is a milestone in our journey to being fully licensed and regulated around the world. I would like to thank Team Bahrain, guided by the visionary leadership of HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, for the great work in facilitating this achievement. Team Bahrain has shown considerable foresight in its development of crypto regulations and provides the regulatory protections that consumers should come to expect from regulators around the world.
I’m proud of the hard work of the Binance team to meet the stringent criteria of the Central Bank of Bahrain, not just locally but globally by ensuring that we meet and exceed the requirements of regulators and protect users with strong anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing policies.”
The crypto-asset license will allow Binance to provide crypto-asset trading, custodial services and portfolio management to customers under the supervision of the Bahrain regulators.
HE Rasheed Al Maraj, Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain commented: “Developing regulations aligned with global trends is a key objective for us at the CBB. We continue to work with partners and industry leaders such as Binance to develop regulations that enable innovation and best practices.”
Khalid Humaidan, CEO of the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) added: “Team Bahrain has built a world-class infrastructure to support the fast-growing blockchain and crypto industry, with robust regulations and diverse talent within the financial services, fintech and technology sectors. Collaboration with industry leaders such as Binance will further enhance our mission to establish the Kingdom of Bahrain as a leading business hub.”