Central Bank of Bahrain studies how banks can offer stablecoins in the future

Central Bank of Bahrain studies how banks can offer stablecoins in the future

The Central Bank of Bahrain, while still piloting CBDCs, is moving forward with its stablecoin and crypto payments strategy and is currently studying the possibility of allowing local bank to offer stablecoins in next phase.

The governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), Khalid Humaidan in an interview with the Banker noted that the Central Bank of Bahrain is still in CBDC pilot phase utilizing different approaches for retail and wholesale CBDCs, yet at the same time strong interest is in stablecoins, and crypto payments according to  Yasmeen Alsharaf, director of the fintech and innovation unit at the CBB.

Just as the governor of Bahrain Central Bank discussed piloting CBDCs both retail and wholesale, Yasmeen Al Sharaf in another interview discussed how the CBB recently issued a consultation on the regulation of stablecoins in October 2024 and is seeking in next phase to see how banks can offer stablecoins.

CBDCs still in pilot or pre-pilot stages across GCC

Back in June 2024, the IMF noted two thirds of countries in MENA were exploring CBDCs stating that Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and UAE were in more advanced proof of concept stages, it also noted that CBDCs required careful considerations. Today it seems that this is still the case.

Humaidan speaking to the Banker explained, that the CBB is still piloting and trying different combinations and keeping their options open. He stated, “As the pilot progresses, we will refine our approach and decide what the right formula is for Bahrain.”

He had commented that most central banks in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries are in the same phase when it comes to CBDCs. They are either piloting or about to launch pilots. The reason is that there are still a lot of questions such as which is a priority retail or wholesale CBDCs, should a centralized or decentralized ledger be used?

CBB is interested in stablecoins and crypto payments

But while the Central Bank of Bahrain may still be piloting on the CBDC front, in terms of stablecoins and crypto payments, Yasmeen Alsharaf, Director of the Fintech and innovation unit at the CBB told Asian Banking & Finance at the Singapore Fintech Festival 2024 on 6-8 November, noted that stablecoins and crypto payments are areas of interest for the central bank.

In October 2024, the CBB issued a consultation on the regulation of stablecoins.

Alsharaf stated, “We will soon also be complementing that with the consultation to explore the opportunity to allow banks to also engage in offering Stablecoins. We are currently in the process of benchmarking other jurisdictions when it comes to crypto payments.”

She added, “We believe that there’s a lot of opportunities when it comes to digital assets, a lot of use cases out there. And again, going back to what I mentioned earlier, a balanced regulatory framework is important to have in place to support those use cases whilst maintaining safe financial operations.”

The statements come as Singapore Gulf Bank, a subsidiary of Whampoa Group, with a license in Bahrain, is in talks with a Middle East sovereign wealth fund to raise $50 million to acquire a stablecoin payments company in 2025 either in the Middle East or Europe. SGB is backed by Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat and privately held Singapore-based investment firm Whampoa Group.

UAE has already published its stablecoin regulations

While Bahrain it still in the consultation phase for its stablecoin regulation, the UAE Central Bank in June 2024 came out with the “UAE Stablecoin Payment Token Services Regulation” laying out the rules and conditions by the Central Bank of UAE for licenses pertaining to payment tokens, not allowing algorithmic tokens to be included and only allowing foreign stablecoins to be used to purchase virtual assets.

The Central Bank of the UAE defined Payment Token Services as being digital payment services in the UAE comprising of three categories, namely Payment Token Issuance, Payment Token Conversion and Payment Token Custody and Transfer.

Soon after Tether announced that it would be seeking to launch its AED stablecoin.

The Chainalysis 2024 report which covered the MENA region showcased the growth of stablecoins, particularly in Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The first regulated crypto exchange in the Middle East has lost $14.8 million

The first regulated crypto exchange in the Middle East has lost $14.8 million

According to ZachXBT, an internet sleuth with over 500 hundred thousand followers on Twitter, Bahrain and UAE regulated crypto broker, RAIN, has been likely exploited for $14.8 million. The exploit happened on April 29th and according to ZacHxbt no statement was made by RAIN on the incident.

On the contrary on May 6th RAIN Bahrain tweeted “It was our pleasure to have our General Manager of Bahrain Mohamed Ateeq speak at the Sixth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum, organized by the University of Bahrain as part of the Manama week events by the Southern Municipality. It is always a pleasure for us to share Rain’s journey that lay the foundations for the crypto sector in the MENA region.”

According to ZachXBT on TME, “It appears the crypto exchange Rain was likely exploited for $14.8M on April 29, 2024 after their BTC, ETH, SOL, and XRP wallets saw suspicious outflows. Funds were quickly transferred to instant exchanges and swapped for BTC and ETH.”

He added, “As of now Rain has yet to make any statement about the incident.”

He noted that the stolen funds currently sit on these addresses

137.9 BTC

bc1q53aawrkpt5lvk2e30z36unvmhqqdru7q4rprp2 (https://mempool.space/address/bc1q53aawrkpt5lvk2e30z36unvmhqqdru7q4rprp2)

1881 ETH

0x197bc094f990261fd6841342901c451858756c28 (https://etherscan.io/address/0x197bc094f990261fd6841342901c451858756c28)

RAIN crypto exchange had received a license both from the Central Bank of Bahrain as well as ADGM in Abu Dhabi. In Bahrain Rain Management W.L.L. is licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain as a Category 3 Crypto-Asset Services Provider. It received its license back in 2019.

In 2022, RAIN Crypto exchange raised $110 in a Series B funding round. The round was co-led by Paradigm and Kleiner Perkins with participation from multiple parties including Coinbase Ventures, Global Founders Capital, MEVP, Cadenza Ventures, and CMT Digital.

As per RAIN’s website it is backed by MEVP (Middle East Venture Partners), Dubai International Financial Centre, Coinbase, Paradigm, and KleinerPerkins.

In July 2023 RAIN received a fully regulated crypto broker license in UAE through ADGM.

Lara on the Block tried to get in touch with executives from RAIN but without avail. UAE ADGM also has no official statement to make at this time. The Central Bank of Bahrain could not be reached at this time.

Touting itself as “The most trusted cryptocurrency platform” if this turns out to be true it will have negative effects on crypto sentiments in the region. Crypto investors lost $2 billion to hacks and exploits last year and $333 million in Q1 of 2024. 

Built on the blockchain Bahrain’s first tokenized Sukuk platform awakens

Built on the blockchain Bahrain’s first tokenized Sukuk platform awakens

Built on Tezos blockchain, Bahrain based Real World Tokenization entity INABLR Middle East recently graduated from the Central Bank of Bahrain’s regulatory sandbox having piloted the first blockchain enabled fractional Sukuk Investment platform. Once INABLR receives its license in around six months, it will become the first global entity to offer fractionalized Sukuk (Islamic Bonds).

Speaking to Lara on the Block Anver Jalaldeen, Founder & Executive Chairman of INABLR, explained that after three years in the Central Bank of Bahrain’s regulatory sandbox he is proud of the accomplishment.

Jalaldeen who previously held the position of Senior Vice President Head of Investment Banking at Sharjah Islamic Bank, came up with the idea of democratizing Islamic Sukuks to allow not only those who held $1000 to invest but also those who had just a $100.

For INABLR and its team, the fractional tokenization of Sukuk aims to empower retail investors by providing them with opportunities to diversify their portfolios and participate in previously inaccessible markets.

Jalaldeen explains, “Once we get the license, which should be in six months, we will become the first entity in the world to offer fractionalized Sukuk. This means clients with even $100 will be able to participate in a Sukuk offering. We are democratizing this Islamic financial product so that retailers across the globe can be part of this.”

Being part of the regulatory sandbox and working the Central Bank allowed INABLR to prove that tokenization of Sukuk on blockchain was safe.

He says, “We worked on everything, KYC, AML, security, custody and other elements that are involved in the process we built a platform that is dedicated to compliance, transparency, and regulatory excellence.”

Tezos Blockchain provided INABLR with a grant. This does not mean that in the future INABLR cannot be built on other blockchain platforms.

Jalaldeen adds that Bahrain was the best location to carry out a real-world assets tokenization pilot as well as receive a license. He notes, “Bahrain has been at the forefront of digital assets and blockchain regulation, and we are very happy to have started our journey here. Bahrain offers a clear licensing for VASPs in terms of categories.”

He is interested in also setting up in Qatar and other GCC and MENA countries in the future. He explains, “We are looking to expand globally either by offering our solution as a B2B, B2C or white labelled solution.”

It is noteworthy that Qatar has shown strong interest in tokenization and the development of digital assets.

With a Sukuk market size of $10 billion in GCC, the tokenization of real-world assets and sukuks in particular will be a significant feat. Next could be the tokenization of real estate and maybe one day sovereign Sukuks.

For Jalaldeen “The CBB’s commitment to fostering innovation has been instrumental in our success. INABLR is not only focused on fractionalizing Sukuk but also aims to revolutionize access to a wide range of real-world assets that are traditionally available only to institutional investors.”

Bahrain ABC Bank goes live with JP Morgan’s Blockchain payments

Bahrain ABC Bank goes live with JP Morgan’s Blockchain payments

Bahrain based ABC bank after two years of piloting, J.P. Morgan’s Coin Systems, a blockchain based permissioned system that serves as a payment rail and deposit account ledger and sits within Onyx by J.P. Morgan has gone live with the blockchain payments solution.

Prior to this ABC bank had been piloting GCC region’s first blockchain based cross border instant payment solutions as well as CBDC project with the Central Bank of Bahrain. In 2020 The Central Bank of Bahrain collaborated with J P Morgan and Bank ABC in a pilot scheme to introduce instantaneous cross border payment solution leveraging state of the art technology and digital currency. The pilot was successfully completed in 2022. 

As such the soft launch of the new blockchain payment service by ABC Bank, is in close collaboration with the Central Bank of Bahrain.  The Central Bank of Bahrain has supported the project by integrating and scaling the blockchain payments solution within the Kingddom’s payments landscape.

On this occasion, His Excellency the Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain, Mr. Rasheed AlMaraj, stated, “After working closely with JP Morgan and Bank ABC over the past two years to experiment the execution of cross-border commercial transactions between Bahrain and the U.S., leveraging the J.P. Morgan Coin System, we are pleased to witness the soft launch of this innovative banking solution by a Bahraini-based bank.  This initiative aligns with the CBB’s strategic vision to embrace innovation and digitalize the Kingdom’s financial services sector by eliminating inefficiencies that exist in traditional cross-border payment railways, facilitating trade between Bahrain and the U.S., and thereby inducing economic activity. We commend Bank ABC on their commitment to enhance their banking offerings by leveraging advanced global technologies.”

Mr. Sael Al Waary, Bank ABC Group CEO, said: “As an international bank operating across five continents, Bank ABC Group is committed to introducing innovative products to our home market and across our wider network. Offering high-value cross-border payments via the J.P. Morgan Coin Systems service, allows us to reduce traditional settlement periods considerably as well as being more cost-effective for our clients. We remain steadfast as a key enabler of Bahrain’s vision for a digital economy. We would like to thank our partners the Central Bank of Bahrain for their commitment and leadership and J.P. Morgan for their leading role in advancing cross-border payments for banking services.”

Naveen Mallela, Global Head of Onyx Coin Systems, said “Bank ABC has been one of the earliest adopters of the JPM Coin offering and we are delighted to launch the first of its kind commercial payment offering between J.P. Morgan and Bank ABC using distributed ledger rails. This enables cross-border commercial transactions to be executed between Bahrain and US corridors instantly, atomically and with certainty.”

While the offering has been launched with USD and locations involving Bahrain, US, UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, additional locations and currencies, notably Euro, are in the pipeline. Going forward with the planned introduction of programmable payment offerings, it will enable mutual corporate clients to leverage event driven and automated payouts enabling a dynamic and real time treasury management.

Bahrain first country in MENA to launch onshore security token regulations

Bahrain first country in MENA to launch onshore security token regulations

Bahrain Central Bank has announced the issuance of regulation for security tokens as amendments to its current crypto asset module.

The Central Bank has expanded the crypto asset regulations to include digital token offerings, in specific those with the characteristics of security tokens.

In determining whether a digital token qualifies as a security, the CBB will examine the underlying economic purpose of the digital token, its structure, characteristics, as well as the rights attached to the digital token.

The new amendments also outline new requirements to enhance safeguarding clients’ assets to provide high levels of protection for investors.

In addition the Central Bank of Bahrain will allow crypto-assets licensees (after obtaining the CBB’s approval) to engage in additional activities, which are not within the stipulated regulated crypto-asset services.

 Commenting on the new amendments, Director of the Capital Markets Supervision Directorate – Mrs. Abeer Al Saad, stated,  “We at the CBB are delighted to issue the new amendments to our regulatory framework for crypto-assets and to specifically introduce new regulatory requirements for the digital tokens offerings, in order to regulate the crypto-assets market in a fair and transparent manner. Therefore, the CBB has adopted a risk-based regulatory approach towards requirements, which are proportionate and commensurate to the regulated activity undertaken by a licensee. We endeavour to provide adequate safeguards to investors without inhibiting innovation adoption at the CBB, as we continue to monitor market trends and review the regulatory framework to keep up with the latest developments in the field, as well as maintain the competitiveness of the sector. This milestone is a reflection of the pioneering role the CBB continues to play in regulating crypto-assets.”

Bahrain was the first country in the GCC region to regulate crypto allowing for the launch of crypto exchange brokers such as RAIN, CoinMENA, and most recently Binance. It is also one of the leading GCC and MENA countries when it comes to crypto payments.

The new amendments are also a first in the region, no other country has regulated security tokens onshore yet!

Bitcoin Payments in Bahrain being tested by Central Bank of Bahrain

Bitcoin Payments in Bahrain being tested by Central Bank of Bahrain

OpenNode, a “Bitcoin-as-a-payment-network” infrastructure company, has started testing a Bitcoin payment processing and payout solution in Bahrain, with the Central Bank of Bahrain’s regulatory Sandbox.

OpenNode intends to provide the infrastructure to help the country grow its economy and will showcase why Bitcoin is synonymous with better business.

Bahrain was one of the first to grant a crypto exchange license to RAIN crypto exchange and since then has accepted in Binance and others.

The CBB authorized OpenNode to participate in the new Regulatory Sandbox Framework that allows FinTech firms to test their ideas and solutions in the Kingdom.

OpenNode intends to bring payment innovation to Bahrain in using Bitcoin. 

Afnan Rahman, CEO and Co-Founder at OpenNode, stated”This is a watershed moment for the people of Bahrain, the Middle East and the Bitcoin economy as a whole. OpenNode’s leading Bitcoin infrastructure solution continues to pave the way for countries, governments and reputable financial institutions to adopt the Bitcoin standard and transact on the lightning network.”

OpenNode  is currently active in more than 160 countries around the world.

Dalal Buhejji, Executive Director – Investment Development for Financial Services at the Bahrain Economic Development Board said, “We are proud to have worked with the Central Bank towards establishing a strong financial services ecosystem within the Kingdom of Bahrain. As a country, we have always been ahead of the curve in adopting Fintech solutions thanks to our regulator’s flexibility and forward thinking. Financial services is an important sector within our economy, and fintech platforms such as the one soon to be tested by OpenNode are essential to ensure we continue to innovate while simultaneously adhering to best regulatory measures.”