Giant global cryptocurrency exchange Binance has gained a Virtual Asset Licence from Dubai's recently formed Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA).
It follows Bahrain's move on 15 March to give Binance a crypto-asset service provider licence, its first such licence from a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) country.
The company will operate within Dubai's "test-adapt-scale" virtual asset market model and be "permitted to extend limited exchange products and services to pre-qualified investors and professional financial service providers", it said in a statement on 16 March.
Binance will operate as part of the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority initial regulatory phase, which includes oversight and mandatory FATF [Financial Action Task Force] compliance controls.
Changpeng Zhao, founder and chief executive of Binance, said: "High standards of regulation and compliance are critical to the development and maturing of the global crypto and blockchain industry … our team has been working tirelessly to demonstrate how we meet and exceed the requirements of regulators such as the Dubai Vara."
"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.
Binance has been banned, or warned against, in a number of other jurisdictions around the world.
