The world’s third largest cryptocurrency exchange FTX announced today that it has acquired the virtual asset license in Dubai.
As crypto expansion hits all corners of the globe, it was only a matter of time before the leading CEXs and DEXs arrived in the countries of the Middle East as well.
FTX in Dubai
the exchange receive its trading license in Dubai today, after which it plans to establish a regional headquarters in the city.
The exchange company had recently launched its Europe and Middle East focused division ‘FTX Europe’ through which it will offer complex crypto derivative products to institutional markets.
https://t.co/oYkWBHsvf9 through @technology
— FTX (@FTX_Official) March 14, 2022
This comes days after the ruler of Dubai announced the new crypto law and the launch of the Dubai Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) for it. Mohammed bin Rashid, vice president and prime minister, stated that the Dubai Virtual Asset Regulation Law would establish the UAE as the leader in this space.
Recently, Binance announced that it is also in talks with the Dubai World Trade Center to get a permit in the country.
The Middle East is an important zone for cryptocurrency and receives a 7% share of the global value of crypto. In addition, the country and its investors rely more on centralized exchanges than on decentralized options.
Chainalysis report reveals that while the Middle East received $271.7 billion worth of cryptocurrency last year, only a third of that was facilitated by DeFi options. Regardless of the activity, there was still a 1500% increase.
Middle East Crypto Investments | Source: chain analysis
So two of the world’s top three cryptocurrency exchanges entering it are sure to attract more volumes to the exchanges, boosting their tokens in return – FTT and BNB.
FTT is already booming thanks to its marketing techniques that have placed the token and exchange among the top performers. Between January 2020 and 2021, investor presence on the network increased by 900%, followed by another jump of 11.322% in early 2021.
Growth of FTT investors over the years | Source: Intotheblock – Coin-Crypto
The same goes for Binance Coin volumes which peaked around May last year, but their overall average even as of today is an average of $2.3 billion.
BNB trading volume | Source: Santiment – Coin-Crypto
Ergo, expansion in the Middle East will not only bring more users for FTT, but also a much higher inflow as FTX plans to tap into the institutional clients.