Former CEO of Bahrain Fintech Bay joins Fasset digital asset exchange for MENA

Former CEO of Bahrain Fintech Bay joins Fasset digital asset exchange for MENA

Fasset digital asset exchange has appointed the former CEO of Bahrain Fintech Bay as General Manager for MENA region. Fasset digital asset exchange seeks to empower the next billion with new ways to own connect and share digital assets.

Khalid brings a track record of success as the former CEO and board member of Bahrain FinTech Bay, where he led the development and growth of Bahrain FinTech Bay into a leading fintech hub in the Middle East. Prior to his appointment, Khalid held various leadership positions in the financial services industry, focused on investment banking, market risk management and technology, where he was previously Vice President at J.P. Morgan and Barclays Capital in London.

Fasset announced a partnership with Mastercard, which has chosen the company for its Start Path program to promote the adoption of crypto and blockchain technology, the firm announced on Nov. 3.

“We are thrilled to welcome Khalid to the Fasset team and are confident that his experience and leadership will be invaluable as we continue to drive innovation and growth in the digital asset space” said Daniel Ahmed, COO, Fasset.

Khalid added, “I am thrilled to be joining Fasset at this pivotal time in the evolution of finance through digital assets. I look forward to driving our vision and building out the web3 ecosystem by creating opportunities for digital asset ownership, utilization, and ultimately empowering the region..”

UAE to issue stablecoin for payments legislation soon and maybe even DeFi

UAE to issue stablecoin for payments legislation soon and maybe even DeFi

As per a recent PWC Crypto regulation report 2023, the UAE has finalized its crypto regulation, includes AML/ CTF Money laundering and counter terrorist financing rules as well as its travel rule and has already prepared the stablecoin regulation for payments which is awaiting final legislation. ( refer to graph page 8 of report).

For those not familiar with the travel rule, it is a Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) rule [31 CFR 103.33) which requires all financial institutions to pass on certain information to the next financial institution, in certain funds transmittals involving more than one financial institution.

This PwC Global Crypto Regulation 2023 report provides an overview of the crypto regulation landscape, with a focus on financial services. It offers insights into how the regulatory frameworks are developing across the world and seeks to identify how this may impact relevant industry participants and virtual service providers within the financial services sector.

The report notes that UAE authorities are assessing their approach to areas including stablecoins and wider DeFi.

In addition as per the report, the Central Bank of UAE is establishing its position in communicating permissible virtual asset activities to local banks. These include opening accounts for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) better known as crypto exchanges. 

 UAE Securities Commodities Authority with its Decision on Crypto Assets Activities Regulation (CAAR), regulates the offering, issuing, listing and trading of crypto assets in onshore UAE. This includes the initial coin offering exchanges, marketplaces, crowdfunding platforms, custodian services and related financial services based upon or leveraging crypto assets.

In December 2022 the UAE Cabinet updates some of its legislations including those pertaining to virtual business and virtual assets allowing them to be regulated onshore.

As for the rest of the GCC and Arab countries, the report notes that Bahrain has implemented crypto regulations and AML/CTF  yet has not implemented neither the travel rule nor stablecoin regulations for payments.

Jordan, Kuwait, and Oman have not initiated a crypto regulation process, while KSA and Qatar have prohibited cryptocurrencies.

It is interesting that while the report for example considers that Oman has not initiated the crypto regulation process, Oman had announced in 2021 that it was launching through the Central Bank a high level Oman cryptocurrency task force to study the economic advantages and disadvantages of authorizing the use of cryptocurrencies in the country.

In January 2022 Oman capital markets Authority announced a tender for specialized companies to assist in setting up a legislative and regulatory framework for virtual assets and licensing supervision and regulations of Virtual assets service providers within the Sultanate of Oman. Since then no other announcements have been made.

Both Bahrain and Oman have allowed crypto payments to be made in the country through virtual asset providers. Oman based, cryptocurrency broker, Easy Coins launched its trial of Tether USDT on the Tron Blockchain. Accordingly Easy Coin users in Oman can now purchase TRC20 USDT. At the end of 2021 there were 43 thousand registered crypto wallet addresses in Oman.

In the meantime even stablecoins are being trialled in Oman. The Oman Water and Waste Water Services Company (OWWSC), member of Nama Group, to trial a stablecoin linked to the Oman Riyal. The company signed an MOU with Oman based Digital Digits, the creators of Easy coins and Connected Chains to trial “ Hasalah” a stablecoin Wallet.

While in Bahrain EazyPay, a payments solution provider partnered with Binance’s Binance Pay to launch a regulated and approved crypto payments service offering in the Kingdom.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia crypto traders and investors are growing despite the ban on cryptocurrencies and the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia has created a division to study implementation of virtual assets and CBDCs. In 2022, Qatar announced the introduction of its blockchain blueprint for the country.

So while regulations are essential for the growth of crypto ecosystem, and the UAE is leading in this regards, it doesn’t mean that crypto is not being utilized in other countries regardless of their regulatory status. 

A look at the top MENA crypto blockchain Google search trends in 2022

A look at the top MENA crypto blockchain Google search trends in 2022

In 2022, it appears there is a high level of public interest from the number of online keyword searches for crypto, crypto payments, blockchain, metaverse, NFTs and other related terms. These keywords, for instance, are the top searches in Arab countries. This comes as no surprise as nations in the MENA region were among the list of countries receiving crypto, with the greater region becoming one of the regions that saw the most growth in crypto regulations.

According to Chainalysis, while the MENA region is one of the smallest crypto markets, its growth to $566 billion received in cryptocurrency between July 2021 and June 2022 shows adoption is rising rapidly.

UAE places 10th for highest search regions for ‘crypto’

As per Google Trends, there were high inquiries for the term “crypto” in the country from December 2021 to December 2022. The high volume of searches for “crypto” in the Arab state placed it at 10th, followed by Morocco at 11th place, Lebanon (17th) and Tunisia (38th). Several MENA countries placed high in search queries among 73 nations.

The UAE went up two places compared to the results of the Google Trend search for the same period in 2021. Before, the country was in 12th place out of the top 63 countries. Lebanon retained its position, while Saudi Arabia dropped out of the list in 2022. The Kingdom placed 45th in 2021.

The UAE has been at the forefront of crypto regulation and licensing. In 2022, it has awarded licenses to top crypto exchanges such as Binance, Kraken and Crypto.com, among other platforms, and it also welcomed hundreds of other crypto and blockchain firms.

In a Crypto Oasis annual report entitled, “Crypto Ecosystem in the UAE,” the country’s booming blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystem resulted in the employment of 7,000 people across 1,400 blockchain crypto entities currently operating in the country.

Lebanon is also no surprise, given its position as the third largest recipient of crypto in 2022, per a Chainalysis report.

Meanwhile, “Bitcoin” was the most searched keyword in terms of cryptocurrencies in the Arab world, beating “Ethereum.” Bitcoin took 80 percent of the searches, with the UAE settling at 22nd and Morocco at 50th among the top countries that have looked up the term.

In 2021, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt topped the list of countries that searched for Bitcoin. This could be in connection to Bitcoin being the most invested in cryptocurrency as well as the most volatile in 2022. At the time of writing, Bitcoin has a market cap of $323.1 billion, followed by Ethereum with $148 billion, according to the estimates by CoinMarketCap.

As for Ethereum, it was searched for most in the UAE and Lebanon among Arab countries in 2022. They are followed by Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Morocco.

Notably, only two Arab countries in 2022 had the biggest searches for crypto prices, namely the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Both the UAE and KSA are considered the biggest crypto trading markets in the GCC region. The 2022 Geography of Cryptocurrency report by Chainalysis found that Saudi Arabia was one of the strongest markets, with cryptocurrency transaction volumes surging 195 percent year-on-year.

Overall, the MENA region accounts for 9.2 percent of global cryptocurrency trading, up from 7 percent in 2021.

UAE only Arab country with high searches for ‘crypto payments’

The UAE took the number 2 slot globally in terms of regions with high volume searches for the term “crypto payments,” bested by only Nigeria. The list of 16 countries also included Singapore, the UK, the USA and Germany.

The introduction of the Dubai Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) and the openness in the UAE for crypto payments have fueled the curiosity of the community. The country’s friendly stance toward crypto has urged top real estate entities and luxury and F&B outlets to accept crypto as a payment method.

Search for ‘CBDC’ grew exponentially at end of 2022

While more countries explore the opportunities of adopting CBDCs, Google searches for the term surged in November 2022. In terms of countries with the highest searches, the UAE came in at 18th place out of the top 68 countries. Other Arab countries on the list were Morocco (47th), Egypt (65th), and Saudi Arabia (67th).

The UAE completed its first CBDC pilot mBridge this year and is expected to continue to move forward with its implementation.

Morocco and Egypt join regions with top searches for ‘blockchain’

Despite an overall decrease in “blockchain” searches this year, several Arab countries topped the list among 72 countries. The UAE took eighth place, followed by Tunisia (15th), Lebanon (17th), Morocco (21st), Egypt (73rd) and Saudi Arabia (74th).

Notably, Lebanon is looking into blockchain and crypto as a means to solve many of its economic and fiscal problems.

Lebanon: Takes 8th place in NFT searches in top search regions globally

The search for NFTs went down in 2022 compared to 2021. Regardless, NFT appears to be an interest to Lebanon residents, with the country placing in eighth place. Lebanon was followed by other Arab countries, such as Morocco (10th), UAE (11th), and Algeria (57th).

In 2021, the UAE placed seventh among the top 31 countries that searched for “Buy NFTs.” Meanwhile, in 2022, Lebanon came in second, passing the UAE, which placed fourth.

Lebanese artists have increasingly issued NFTs in 2022, with more Lebanon residents purchasing the asset to offset the declining Lebanese currency in addition to their growing interest in this crypto segment. Moreover, several Lebanese NFT marketplaces have launched this year, such as OasisX.

Top google searches for crypto exchanges in MENA

When it came to searches for “crypto exchange,” the UAE stood in fifth place, followed by Lebanon (27th), Morocco (45th) and KSA (47th) among the top 65 countries.

Notably, “Binance” topped the list of searches in 95 regions. In the Arab world, the exchange was mostly searched by people from the UAE (ninth), Morocco (15th), Lebanon (16th), Qatar (36th), Kuwait (45th) and Jordan (56th).

Binance has been ramping up its operations within the MENA region in 2022. Within the year, the largest exchange by trading volume received an MVP license in the UAE and a full operating license in Bahrain.

As for home-grown crypto exchanges, CoinMENA was searched for most in Iran, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman. . Meanwhile, BitOasis and CoinMENA were equally searched for in Oman.

BitOasis also topped the searches in Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait and Turkey. Noteworthy is that there were only 20 highest search regions for these terms.  BitOasis also had more searches in UAE and KSA than CoinMENA.

BitOasis has a strong presence in the UAE that dates back to pre-license days. According to BitOasis Founder Ola Doudin, they are actively working with regulators in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere across the region to introduce their respective crypto regulations.

UAE is the most metaverse-curious country globally in terms of searches

When it came to global searches for the term “metaverse,” the UAE came in second place, passing Singapore, which placed seventh. In Last year’s trends, there were almost no searches on Google for metaverse before October 2021.

In 2022, Dubai introduced its Metaverse Strategy, which aims to create 40,000 virtual jobs and add $4 billion to the emirate’s economy over the next five years.

Lebanon tops searches for crypto mining

Lebanon becomes the top Arab country in terms of searches for “crypto mining,” placing third. It’s followed by the UAE, Bahrain, Tunisia, Morocco, KSA and Egypt.

Notably, Lebanon had the highest number of crypto-mining activities. This spike can be attributed to residents turning to crypto mining as an alternative source of income, given the financial demise of the Lebanese Lira. Lebanon’s low electricity costs also made the country an ideal destination for crypto miners.

As for UAE, it is also one of the attractive hubs for crypto miners in the MENA region, given its open stance on crypto, as well as the projects being launched in the country.

In conclusion, while crypto had a bearish year in 2022, this was not reflected in the google search trends especially when it comes to Arab countries specifically in the GCC. The MENA region and GCC country residents have shown considerable interest in crypto, NFTs, metaverse, and blockchain. These search trends reflect a growing interest in the region for these technologies.

Looking at these trends one can imply that crypto mining in countries like Lebanon are a big part of the crypto ecosystem. It might also be inferred that crypto payments interest will continue to grow in the UAE as will CBDC interest.

The fact is that despite the tumultuous year that crypto and blockchain went through in 2022, we will see more of them in 2023 and it looks like the MENA and Arab region will lead.

UAE Blockchain farmer marketplace merges with Bahrain BeanBoat

UAE Blockchain farmer marketplace merges with Bahrain BeanBoat

UAE Farmsent, a blockchain platform for farmers and producers where they can directly supply goods to the consumers, has merged with Bahrain Beanboat, pioneers of coffee direct-trade in MENA.

BeanBoat created Bahrain’s first coffee subscriptions service. Their offerings brought coffee shops and roasters some of the best and rarest coffee in the world owing to their extensive network of farmers in Colombia.

Beanboat has merged with Farmsent allowing them to tap on Farmsent’s extensive reach with clients in the MENA regions and network farmers in Colombia, and combining it with the power of Web3 of Farmsent’s network to push for the next generation of trade.

Yog Shrusti, CEO and Co-Founder of Farmsent stated, “Our mission at Farmsent is to connect farmers directly with people who are looking for quality, sustainable, traceable products. With Beanboat’s knowledge of the MENA region, we will continue to lead the way in bringing people across the region together around sustainable living. With this merger, and combined with Farmsent’s ongoing efforts in Indonesia, we aim to foster and leverage on the community of coffee farmers in Colombia and provide them access to more regions and more clients. More importantly, farmers of a different variety of produce will now have the opportunity to directly trade with clients in the MENA region. On the other side, distributors and wholesale buyers will have access to an extensive network of farmers in Colombia to ensure supply and QA of their product lines.”

 Saleh Sharif, CEO and Co-Founder of Beanboat added, “We are very excited to collaborate with Farmsent. As we aim to make the supply chain more transparent, I feel the scalability issues that were obvious in our coffee trading are now even more apparent. Beanboat will add more SKUs than coffee and bring transparency to our supply chain. With the advent of blockchain technology, we safely look forward to our new collaboration!”

Dubai MAG developer accepts stablecoin payments using CoinMENA

Dubai MAG developer accepts stablecoin payments using CoinMENA

Dubai developer MAG is accepting stablecoins in property transactions utilizing the services offered by Bahrain-based crypto company CoinMENA. Stablecoins USDT and USDC will now be accepted by MAG in response to investor demand, the developer said.

Talal Moafaq Al Gaddah, senior executive vice chairman of MAG, which recently announced an $817 million “bio living” residential development in Meydan, Dubai,stated, “As a catalyst for Dubai’s real estate industry, we will spare no effort to progress upon the emirate’s digital economy and consolidate its prominent global position.”

This is the second real estate developer to team up CoinMENA. Last month it partnered with Carlton Real Estate, a Bahrain-based real estate agency, allowing investors to purchase real estate property using crypto assets. Under the partnership, the real estate broker would accept stablecoins like USDT and USDC.

 Talal Tabbaa and Dina Sam’an, founders of CoinMENA, a crypto asset service provider, said the agreement showed the growth of crypto adoption in acquiring ‘real world’ assets.

Saudi Telecom in Bahrain first telecom operator in GCC to accept crypto payments

Saudi Telecom in Bahrain first telecom operator in GCC to accept crypto payments

stc Bahrain has become the first telecom operator in Bahrain to accept cryptocurrencies through its partnership with Eazy Financial Services, a leading Bahraini Payment Services provider specializing in POS and online payment gateway. EazyPay uses BinancePay and wallet to offer this service to more than 5000 POS terminals in Bahrain. 

The collaboration with Eazy Financial Services is a strategic step from stc Bahrain towards expanding the payment options with the future of currency to address the increasing demand for flexible and easy-to-use crypto payments. 

stc Bahrain CEO Nezar Banabeela, stated, “Rapid digitization across the globe is transforming all aspects of our lives, and payments are the most crucial element. From online shopping and streaming videos to money transfers, almost every digital activity relies on a payment system. We are incredibly proud to be the first telecom operator in Bahrain to accept cryptocurrency payments, a demonstration of our strong focus on advancing Bahrain’s fintech sector as world-class digital enablers. We continue to leverage the potential of the digital economy, which is limitless, make accepting crypto a seamless process and increase adoption as crypto is the future of payments.”

Nayef Tawfiq Al Alawi, Founder & CEO of Eazy Financial Services, added,”  We are very proud today to become the partners of STC Bahrain, The world-class digital enabler. This Partnership enables stc Bahrain to be the first telecom operator in the Kingdom to accept cryptocurrency payments in a regulated, secure and extremely fast manner. The benefits of bringing in EazyPay to STC Bahrain will ensure simple and effective transaction journeys for customers, with a partner which is able to ensure first-class service.” 

While, Tameem Al Moosawi, General Manager at Binance Bahrain, said:  “stc is known to be at the forefront of technology and innovation and, with this partnership, has set the benchmark for how telecom operators can enable the transition to the Web3 economy by accepting crypto payments. We are excited to be collaborating in this space to streamline services for customers and is once again a testament to Bahrain’s progressive regulatory framework and banking structure” 

tAt the same time Bahrain Kuwait Insurance Co (GIG Bahrain) has signed a payment services agreement with Eazy Financial Services ‘EazyPay’, Bahrain’s leading and most innovative payment services provider to allow for crypto payments  via ‘Binance App’, which is regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain, making GIG Bahrain the first insurance company in the Mena region to accept premium payments as crypto assets payments in  regulated, secure and extremely fast manner.

Which homegrown MENA crypto exchanges will do proof of reserve and who was exposed to FTX

Which homegrown MENA crypto exchanges will do proof of reserve and who was exposed to FTX

It all started with the FTX downfall and then Binance’s Co-Founder and CEO call for crypto exchanges to carry out proof of reserves. Since then crypto exchanges such as Binance and crypto.com have provided wallets addresses tied to company wallets while Nansen blockchain analytics firm is creating a display of crypto exchange proof of reserves dashboard that currently includes Binance, crypto.com, OkX, Kucoin, Deribit, Bitfinex, Github, and others.

But what are locally homegrown crypto exchanges in MENA doing. Will they carry out proof of reserves, do they see it as the solution to bring trust back to crypto exchanges, and who has exposure to FTX?  

MENA Crypto Exchanges and Proof of Reserves

Bahrain based CoinMENA Talal Tabbaa and Dina Sama’an when asked by LaraontheBlock about if they will be doing proof of reserves stated, “This FTX news is a major setback for our industry and highlights the importance of regulation. This is why CoinMENA was established under the Central Bank of Bahrain, with a robust regulatory framework and compliance requirements. We go through regular audits and have to submit periodic reports to the regulators. More importantly, we keep our user funds in segregated accounts and we don’t offer leverage or margin which severely increases the risk profile of an exchange. We see crypto as a long-term investment and will continue to manage our risk prudently to build a sustainable and profitable business.”

Tabbaa adds, “CoinMENA is also reaching out to Nansen who is heading this effort globally to see the best way for it to be done.”

UAE regulated BitOasis CEO Ola Doudin states, “We believe that locally regulated platforms that follow industry best practices with proper oversight and supervision by their local regulators is the best way to ensure consumer protection and proper risk management practices.”

Vasja Zupan, President of UAE based Matrix Exchange in a reply to the question of whether they will do proof of reserves states, “We simply hold 1:1 client assets in our custody that is literally reconciled daily and regularly reported and checked by regulator and external auditors.”

Basil Askari Co-Founder of UAE MidChains has a similar reply, “In terms of proof of reserves we are already doing this on a daily basis with our regulator by providing daily client account reconciliations.”

Ola Doudin in her reply to this question stated, “BitOasis holds client assets in segregated client money accounts and custody environments. We’re an audited company that maintains the highest level of security and industry practices in storing and maintaining client assets one to one backed. We do not engage in any fractional reserve practices, proprietary trading, lending, and borrowing and we do not have an exchange token.”

Christopher Flinos, Chief Executive Officer of Hayvn crypto exchange in UAE “We already do proof of reserves. Our client’s crypto stays in segregated client wallets and our clients have always had access to their reserves. The firm in addition keeps shareholder funds in USD We hold no treasury in any coins not even stablecoins.”

Will Proof of reserves bring trust back to crypto exchanges?

Zupan believes that proof of reserves is totally useless without “proof of liabilities”. As he explains, “Proof of reserves alone should not bring trust back without 3rd party reviews and regulatory oversight over centralized services. I believe that CeFi needs a strong regulatory overview in combination with strong transparency and DeFi needs total transparency with independent reviews (not everyone can evaluate complex software and framework).”

Basil Askari co-founder of MidChains believes it is not enough to publish numbers. He explains, “Regulation and strict supervision by regulators on how client funds are used, is and has always been critical, as in TradeFi.”

Talal Tabbaa believes that the way crypto exchanges are carrying out proof of reserves at the moment is missing an important element. He explains, “In accounting when you provide information on your assets, you also provide information on your liabilities. Crypto exchanges need to do both proof of reserves and proof of liabilities preferably on a blockchain in real-time.”

Flinos agrees that with the current behavior of crypto exchange leadership trust is continuing to be damaged and what is need is strong regulation, control and corporate governance.

Exposure to FTX

In the past both CoinMENA and BitOasis had in their investment rounds received investment from FTX Ventures through Alameda Research. As such CoinMENA in a joint statement from both Talal Tabbaa and Dina Sam’an, Co-Founders, to LaraontheBlock clarified the following:  “FTX’s Investment arm Alameda Research invested $1 million in CoinMENA’s $9.5m seed funding round in 2021. All the funds were received prior to the close of the seed round. Their stake is less than 3% and has no voting rights. In light of the recent news, we have offered to buy back their minority stake.”

BitOasis also made a public blog post where it stated the following: “BitOasis confirms that it has no commercial relationship or exposure with Alameda Research (Alameda) or any other FTX entity. Accordingly, recent events at FTX and Alameda do not have any bearing on our business, or our ability to provide our customers with a safe and secure trading experience. In 2021, Alameda participated in BitOasis’ Series B financing round. As a result of its investment Alameda holds a 2.2% shareholding in BitOasis through Alameda Ventures Limited. Alameda is not represented (nor has it ever been) on BitOasis’ board of directors or on any governance forum or committee in any capacity. The shareholding is small and hence creates no exposure to our business.”

Matrix, Hayvn and MidChains founders confirm that they have zero exposure to FTX. Zupan stated, “We don’t have any exposure to FTX or any related party or similar protocols.” Al Askari as well confirmed, “Both our client funds and corporate assets are not exposed. We keep our (and our clients) funds in a safe boring 1:1 holding.” Flinos confirmed that they do not deal with unregulated counterparts.

Two crypto exchanges, RAIN in Bahrain and Veromex in UAE have not yet replied to the queries posed, if and when they do reply, their responses will be added.

Take Away

While up until now international exchanges have always looked more attractive because of their liquidity and the amount of crypto they list as well as their geographic coverage, it seems that those regulated in the region whether in UAE or Bahrain are looking more attractive because of their adherence to strong regulatory bodies.

A lot of news is coming out that international exchanges undertaking so called proof of reserves are not being transparent. For example Crypto.com’s cold storage revealed a suspicious transfer of 320,000 Ether worth $404 million, to Gate.io.  Kris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com assured traders that the transfer was accidental; funds were to be moved to a new cold storage address. Experts allege that the transfer helped Gate.io show its proof of reserves of user funds shortly after the transfer. Even more so it seems that 20 percent of crypto.com reserves are in Meme Token SHBB.

This also happened with Huobi. It was noted that after Huobi released the asset snapshot of the asset reserve, 10,000 ETH was transferred from Huobi to Binance and OkX deposit wallets. (Etherscan.io)

Binance CEO CZ also made an interesting tweet today November 13th 2022 where he says Binance is not just a CEX (Centralized Exchange). This comes as the crypto mood globally moves towards DEX (Decentralized Exchanges). In his tweet he gives advice on how to store crypto in your own wallet, and refers to trustwallet while saying that Binance is not just a CEX but provides other options.

In the end, the future is in decentralized exchanges, smart contracts, and blockchain databases for proof of reserves such as Etherscan.io and others. Crypto was never the culprit, it was molding crypto into a traditional financial sector that was.

Bahrain CoinMENA crypto exchange partners with real estate agency to offer crypto payments for properties

Bahrain CoinMENA crypto exchange partners with real estate agency to offer crypto payments for properties

Bahrain regulated CoinMENA, a crypto asset service provider – category 3 license holder has partnered with Carlton Real Estate, a Bahrain-based real estate agency, that allows investors in the Kingdom to purchase real estate property using crypto assets. Under the partnership, the leading Bahrain-based real estate broker will accept stablecoins like USDT and USDC.

CoinMENA is a leading crypto asset service provider – category 3 that is regulated and licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain, serving the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The trading platform allows retail and institutional investors access to digital assets investments and directly connects their bank accounts with their CoinMENA wallets to facilitate quick and frictionless money transfers.

 Carlton Real Estate, a Bahrain-based company established in 1996, is a certified broker with a RERA-Bahrain license and offers a wide range of real estate services to corporate and individual clients throughout the Kingdom of Bahrain.

“We are pleased to diversify the payment options for our customers, as we always strive to keep pace with the best modern technologies in terms of management, financing, and brokerage. We are proud to be the first real estate brokerage company in the Kingdom to accept crypto asset transactions for property purchases and other real estate services through our partnership with CoinMENA – the crypto asset service provider licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain” said Ali Adnan Mahmood, Deputy Managing Director of Carlton Real Estate. 

CoinMENA Founders Talal Tabbaa and Dina Sam’an commented in a joint statement, “We are delighted to partner with one of the leading real estate brokerage companies in the Kingdom of Bahrain, Carlton Real Estate, to facilitate transactions via cryptocurrencies. As adoption continues to grow in the region, we see significant opportunities to use cryptocurrencies to purchase real-world assets. Crucially, this partnership also signals to the market that cryptocurrencies are maturing and gaining mainstream acceptance as a viable medium of exchange.

The home of Bahrain’s F1 Grand Prix now accepting crypto payments

The home of Bahrain’s F1 Grand Prix now accepting crypto payments

Bahrain international Circuit is now accepting crypto payments using Bahrain’s Eazy Financial services, which has a partnership with Binance.

Using EazyPay, BIC will be provided with POS terminals at BIC outlets that will accept all types of debit and credit cards from Visa and MasterCard as well as the latest methods of payment using crypto assets via Binance application.

BIC is now the first International Circuit in the World to accept crypto assets Payments in a regulated, secure and extremely fast manner. 35,000 fans attended the F1 Grand Prix race in 2022 which is held at Bahrain international circuit.

The benefits of bringing in EazyPay to BIC will ensure simple and effective transaction journeys for customers, with a partner which is able to ensure first-class service.

“We are pleased to have brought on Eazy Financial Services as a POS service provider,” BIC Chief Commercial Officer Sherif Al Mahdy said.

“The services they offer will benefit our operations greatly while offering a smooth, hassle-free experience for our customers. We look forward to further building on our relationship for the benefit of both our companies.”

Nayef Tawfiq Al Alawi, Founder & CEO of Eazy Financial Services, said they are very proud to become the partners of the Bahrain International Circuit, the home of Motorsports in the Middle East, by providing EazyPay competitive, and innovative payment services.

Tameem Al Moosawi, General Manager of Binance Bahrain, said they are excited to welcome ‘The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East’ to the Web 3 Economy stating “This agreement enables BIC to become the first international racing circuit in the world to accept crypto-asset payments through Binance Pay’s partnership with EazyPay, showcasing how the Kingdom of Bahrain is continuously in the forefront, supporting regional & global players in keeping up with global trends.”

In late September 2022, Bahrain EazyPay, a payments solution provider, partnered with Binance’s Binance Pay to launch a regulated and approved crypto payments service offering in the Kingdom.

At the time, Nayef Tawfiq Al Alawi, Founder, MD & CEO of Eazy in Bahrain stated on LinkedIn,  “Now you can pay in stores with any preferred Cryptocurrency using Binance App.  A special thanks goes to Central Bank of Bahrain, Binance and Eazy Financial Services B.S.C (Closed) teams.”

MENA crypto users receive $566 billion worth of crypto in one year

MENA crypto users receive $566 billion worth of crypto in one year

As per a recent Chainalysis blog report, MENA based crypto users received $566 billion worth of cryptocurrency in one year from July 2021 to June 2022. As per the news, this is a 48 percent increase from 2020-2021.

In addition Turkey, Egypt and Morocco once again lead not only in MENA region but globally. All three countries are in the top thirty list of countries with most crypto savings, usage of crypto for remittance payments and permissive crypto regulations.

These could be caused by these countries’ fiat currency devaluations and the huge remittance market in Egypt for example. This is why Egypt has become the fastest growing crypto market in 2022, while Turkey still remains the largest crypto market with its citizens receiving $192 billion.

The report also notes the role of countries in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), and cites the example of Saudi Arabia which is the third largest crypto market in MENA, while UAE stands at fifth largest. This is especially true given the recent stance of the UAE on crypto and the increased regulations as well as the licenses being granted to crypto exchanges the likes of Binance, and FTX.

In Chainalysis previous report from June 2020 until June 2021, the MENA region was also the fasted growing crypto market. At the time the Middle East region received 271.7 billion USD worth of cryptocurrency representing almost 7 percent of global crypto value received. This was an increase of 1500 percent compared to June 2019 until June 2020. The growth of crypto in Middle East was higher than the overall world adoption that had jumped 880 percent by June 2021.At the time both Turkey and Lebanon topped the MENA countries in terms of receiving crypto.