Crypto.com and ZagTrader Deepen Institutional Crypto Access Across MENA

Crypto.com is expanding its push into institutional markets across the Middle East and North Africa through a new partnership with Dubai-based fintech infrastructure provider ZagTrader, bringing its exchange directly onto the Zag Financial Network (ZagFN).

The deal gives banks, brokers and asset managers connected to ZagTrader’s ecosystem direct access to Crypto.com Exchange liquidity and execution through the same infrastructure they already use for traditional assets.

The significance is not another exchange integration. It is another step in the growing convergence of traditional finance and digital assets.

By connecting to ZagFN, Crypto.com gains access to a network of more than 100 financial institutions representing over $500 billion in assets, while ZagTrader clients can access crypto markets without building separate connectivity, trading or operational workflows.

“Institutions don’t want siloed crypto systems anymore. They want digital assets integrated into their existing trading environments,” said Shihab Khalil, Founder and CEO of ZagTrader.

Crypto Meets Traditional Market Infrastructure

For years, institutional crypto adoption was held back by fragmented infrastructure. Banks and brokers often needed separate systems, connectivity layers and operational processes to access digital asset markets.

That model is rapidly changing.

Through ZagTrader, institutions already connected to regional exchanges including ADX, DFM and Tadawul can now access Crypto.com through a familiar institutional trading environment, allowing digital assets to sit alongside traditional asset classes.

The integration also delivers a strategic advantage for Crypto.com, opening a direct channel to institutional order flow across one of the world’s fastest-growing digital asset regions without requiring individual integrations with every financial institution.

UAE’s Institutional Digital Asset Story Accelerates

The announcement comes as the UAE continues to invest heavily in regulated digital asset infrastructure.

From tokenization initiatives and digital asset custody solutions to blockchain-powered market infrastructure, the country’s financial sector is increasingly positioning itself at the intersection of traditional finance and digital assets.

The partnership also follows Crypto.com’s broader expansion across the UAE, where the company has steadily increased its regulatory and institutional presence as demand shifts beyond retail trading toward treasury management, settlement, custody and institutional execution services.

The Company Behind the Network

Headquartered in Dubai, ZagTrader has quietly become one of the region’s most important financial market infrastructure providers.

Its Zag Financial Network connects institutions across traditional and digital markets, while its technology powers trading, brokerage, custody, compliance and post-trade operations.

The company is also the developer and operator of Tabadul Hub, the cross-border exchange connectivity platform launched by Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), which links regional markets through a single trading network.

As institutional interest in digital assets continues to grow, partnerships like the one between Crypto.com and ZagTrader demonstrate where the next phase of adoption is heading.

The race is no longer just about attracting crypto traders. It’s about building the infrastructure that allows digital assets to move seamlessly through the same pipes that already power global capital markets.