UAE and Bahrain’s crypto laws give MENA global advantage, says Binance’s Alex Chehade

Dubai: UAE and Bahrain’s virtual asset laws give MENA markets a competitive edge for cryptocurrencies and their trading. This will add more depth to this marketplace, according to a senior official at Binance, the world’s largest crypto trading platform.

“(Dubai’s) VARA license allows us to onboard customers and adapt their criteria globally,” said Alex Chehade, general manager of the MENA territory. “(In Abu Dhabi), ADGM (allows) clients from almost all countries, except those that are sanctioned. Bahrain is similar.

“We proactively reach out to all regulators, and during dialogues with each one we understand more about what they expect from us.

“Obviously, some jurisdictions are moving faster with crypto regulation and this is why we have established a large footprint in MENA. Because governments have decided that the Web3 economy is something they want to promote. They are setting frameworks that make it possible to build the ecosystems.”

In Dubai, the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority has been busy activating rules that expand the scope of the companies that have a license. April 30 is the deadline for answering all ‘initial disclosure questionnaires’ of companies that offer crypto-related products and services. This also applies to the related devices licensed by free zones.

On Thursday (April 20), the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of the bloc’s first set of rules for crypto-assets and their trading.

In Abu Dhabi, Binance has a crypto depository license and the VARA licenses cover crypto exchange, crypto depository, brokerage and crypto payment. “That’s the majority of our business, Binance’s core business is exchange,” Chehade said.

The company is undergoing an intense federal investigation in the United States related to possible trading of the platform’s non-US operations by its US customers. Throughout this period, Binance has managed to insulate the rest of its global operations from US investigations.

“Any US client will trade on Binance US, which is a completely segregated business entity.”

Regardless of what the surveys yield, there is no doubting the influence Binance brings to the crypto table – globally. Much more after the implosion – caused by internal fraud – that took down the other heavyweight, FTX, and its founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

Navigating the aftermath of the FTX blowout has been perilous for the crypto industry – and the trading platforms.

But as of today, cryptoassets are having a mini-renaissance. The most vital part of this asset universe, Bitcoin, is hovering near $30,000 – levels that had seen beyond it as recently as last November/December.

“There’s a lot of resilience in crypto — it’s meant to be complementary to normal macro cycles,” Chehade said. “You see booms and busts, and due to the fact that cryptocurrencies and virtual assets have a much lower market value, they are more likely to have these types of movements.

“Yet, in Q1-23, it’s up 49 percent.

“It still comes up, there’s still going to be price swings. This historically has been the case. When commodities became an asset class exposed to all portfolios, it wasn’t until the 1970s that it would become one of the more traded. Yes the more traded it is, the less volatile.

“We are seeing the development of regulatory outposts, particularly in MENA. Having these regulated marketplaces gives investors, institutions and retail investors the comfort that these are the right places to trade these assets.”