There is a bright side to the U.S. SEC charges against Binance

There is a bright side to the U.S. SEC charges against Binance

CZ the Co-Founder of Binance has taken to twitter after word came out that the U.S. SEC ( Securities and Commodities Authority) has sued Binance US and its founder for providing trading for securities such as BNB, BUSD, SOL, ADA, MATIC, FIL, ATOM, SAND, MANA, ALGO, AXS, and COTI. The U.S. summarizes the case as a blatant disregard of the federal securities law and the investor and market protections these laws provide. The SEC states that Binance has enriched itself by billions of U.S. dollars while placing investors’ assets at significant risk.

The 13 charges come after the CFTC unveiled a similar complaint against Binance and Zhao earlier this year.

CZ on twitter stated, “4. Our team is all standing by; ensuring systems are stable, including withdrawals, and deposits.  We will issue a response once we see the complaint. Haven’t seen it yet. Media gets the info before we do.”

 Charles Hoskinson of IOHK, who had tweeted, “With respect to Binance, I’m reading through the SEC complaint. It’s over 130 pages, but seems like the next in a series of steps to implement chokepoint 2.0 in the United States. The end goal is an agenda based CBDC partnered with a handful of massive banks and end-to-end control.”

To that CZ replies, “a perfect opportunity for the entire industry to set aside it’s fragmented nature and unite for a common sense set of rules and guidelines”

Binance issued a statement expressing its disappointment with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, stating that they have actively cooperated with SEC’s investigations and have worked hard to answer their questions and address their concerns.

The statement reads, “Most recently, we have engaged in extensive good-faith discussions to reach a negotiated settlement to resolve their investigations.  But despite our efforts, with its complaint today the SEC abandoned that process and instead chose to act unilaterally and litigate.  We are disheartened by that choice. “

They add, “We intend to defend our platform vigorously.  Unfortunately, the SEC’s refusal to productively engage with us is just another example of the Commission’s misguided and conscious refusal to provide much-needed clarity and guidance to the digital asset industry.”

According to Binance, an effective regulatory framework demands collaborative, transparent, and thoughtful policy engagement, a path the SEC has abandoned. Because of our size and global name recognition, Binance is an easy target now caught in the middle of a U.S. regulatory tug-of-war.”

It also explains that because Binance is not a U.S. exchange, the SEC’s actions are limited in reach.  Still, we stand with digital asset market participants in the U.S. in opposition to the SEC’s latest overreach, and we are prepared to fight it to the full extent of the law.

Talal Tabaa, Co-Founder of CoinMENA a crypto broker exchange, told LaraontheBlock, “Honestly, I am not surprised. The SEC has had Binance and CZ in their sights for a while now. Binance operations and ownership structure have always been opaque when compared to others. We will have to wait and see the extent of these charges because the SEC has been on a quite aggressive path with crypto and is pushing many onshore exchanges offshore.”

As for the bright side Tabaa adds, “Ethereum wasn’t listed as part of the assets that are centralized in nature which is a huge win.”

Waseem Mamlouk, Founder of NMB Fintech,  believes that the USA is going after crypto and SEC is the working end of that very focused policy. the USA via the SEC sees alternative assets such as Bitcoin as a threat to fiat currencies especially the US dollar which is the most hegemonic currency, and used in trade deals taking place 24 hours a day.

He adds, “Maintaining that portion size of global market is really big deal for the USA. In absolute terms the USA is biggest money printer in the world, making its product highly diluted which makes them go after all alternative assets and shut them down.

He explains, If you look at late 2021 BTC had a I trillion dollar market cap while today the entire crypto market is under a trillion, so things have changed.

The positive thing according to Mamlouk is that companies are looking to set up in crypto friendly jurisdictions. He notes that a company he is acquainted with which has a 100 million dollar hedge fund that includes stablecoins, early venture startups, Web3 and crypto companies are interested in seeking regulation in markets such as Bahrain.

He finally explains that if the US were to diversify large transactions could be settled in alternative assets, this would be good for US economy. For him the world is changing and as such we have to change with it. This is the natural evolution of economic systems and financial markets.

In conclusion he believes that if you put more things on blockchain, you will achieve more transparency, and trace transactions. Gone are the days where banks such as HSBC can launder money for drug cartels in Mexico. Blockchain and crypto bring more accountability traceability and transparency so the banking structure needs to evolve into this world.

So despite the bad news with SEC versus Binance, there is always a bright side. 

Crypto trading in Qatar flourishes despite Central Bank ban

Crypto trading in Qatar flourishes despite Central Bank ban

Over the past years and despite the continuous banning of crypto in Qatar by the Qatar Central Bank, crypto trading and investing in Qatar is flourishing reflected in various ways. 

The first reflection of the attractiveness of crypto trading in Qatar is the statement made by Qatar’s Ahli bank, at the end of May 2023. The bank warned customers against, trading, buying and selling virtual assets and currencies through accounts and banking services, citing the reasons as being associated with high risks.

Secondly Triple A report in January 2023 put Qatar’s crypto ownership at 0.9 percent of the population, around 24,000 people. Since then it could be the numbers have increased. Just over a year ago CoinMENA had announced that it was serving clients in Qatar. Even Bahrain’s RAIN crypto broker supports Qatar, as does UAE based BitOasis.

But the third and most significant reflection of the growth of crypto in Qatar is the recent MENA FATF report, where they mention that Qatar needs to work more on improving its risk understanding, implementation of TFS ( Targeted Financial Transactions) and NPO (Nonprofit organizations) preventive measures for virtual assets, and virtual asset service providers.

As mentioned in their report, “ Qatar has a very strong level of compliance with the FATF Standards, with only minor improvements needed in relation to risk understanding, implementation of TFS and NPO preventive measures, VAs and VASPs, wire transfers, transparency for legal persons and arrangements and cross-border movements of cash and BNIs.

So while Qatar has embraced blockchain, digital assets, and is studying the possibility of implementing CBDC, while shunning crypto, the population in Qatar seems to be moving forward with the crypto times.

Bahrain regulated CoinMENA crypto broker exchange now serving Iraq

Bahrain regulated CoinMENA crypto broker exchange now serving Iraq

CoinMENA announced on LinkedIn that residents and citizens of Iraq can now use CoinMENA to trade crypto safely and easily. This will be the 8th country in the region supported by CoinMENA.

CoinMENA is a crypto broker licensed from Bahrain.

As per Dina Sam’an, Founder and Managing Director of CoinMENA, “We are committed to being the simplest and safest way for investors in MENA to trade in digital assets. Adding Iraq to our list of supported countries brings us closer to our goal of providing premium financial services, built on crypto rails, to the entire MENA region. We are excited to welcome the people of Iraq to our community and look forward to providing them with the best crypto trading user experience in the region.”

CoinMENA currently serves clients in Bahrain, UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Egypt and now Iraq.

Prior to this CoinMENA launched the CoinMENA University, a free educational platform offering over 100 articles and numerous videos to educate those interested in the world of cryptocurrency.

Sam’an stated at the time, “We strongly believe that education is a crucial component of driving the long-term adoption of cryptocurrencies, and we’re committed to making it accessible to everyone.”

The Crypto ecosystem grows in Bahrain after entrance of Binance

The Crypto ecosystem grows in Bahrain after entrance of Binance

In January 2023 Binance celebrated its official entrance into Bahrain. Bahrain’s crypto ecosystem has flourished with the entrance of Binance. Bahrain has witnessed a growth on all fronts, crypto exchange users, crypto payments, crypto jobs and competitive crypto offerings. Binance received its official license in October 2022.

Growth of crypto exchange users

The official license and launch of Binance in Bahrain has added to Binance’s crypto exchange users.

Binance announced that it witnessed a 34% growth in institutional business clients in MENA in Q4 2022, the highest growth for a region where Binance operates, Nadeem Ladki, Executive Director Head of BD & Partnerships, Europe & MENA at Binance told LaraontheBlock, “While I cannot go into the specific growth in Bahrain, I can confirm that we have seen a growth in users since we officially launched in October 2022.”

Even Bahrain based CoinMENA; crypto broker also saw an increase in its user base in 2022 including the period since Binance made its foray into the country. Talal Tabaa CEO and Founder of CoinMENA explained to LaraontheBlock, “Year on Year from December 2021 until December 2022, the verified users of CoinMENA from Bahrain grew by 143 percent. In specific since the entrance of Binance in October 2022, CoinMENA witnessed 5.6 percent growth up until January 2023.”

Growth Crypto vis vie Banking services

In addition to the increase in the number of newly on boarded crypto exchange clients, the country has seen more robust competitive marketing campaigns, with lower fees aimed at attracting a bigger user base as well as enhanced banking crypto relationships.

Binance holds a Category 4 license as a crypto asset service provider (CASP) and was the first exchange in the country to be granted a category four license.  This meant that users could access Binance’s full range of crypto asset exchange services, including direct deposits and withdrawals in local currencies.

Yet this did not faze CoinMENA which despite being a crypto broker still espouses good relationships with liquidity partners and banks. Talal Tabbaa, CEO of CoinMENA told LaraontheBlock, “Compared to other regions, the MENA market is one of the smallest. CoinMENA, Rain & BitOasis are technically all brokerage firms. We all have to work with global liquidity partners to place trades on behalf of our users. CoinMENA can list tokens at its own discretion following the Board of Directors’ approval, but they must comply with CBB guidelines.”

After Binance entered Bahrain and in early 2023, CoinMENA announced that users could now easily deposit and withdraw crypto through bank transfers or cards in just 24 hours. CoinMENA CEO explains, “We maintain good banking relationships which is crucial to ensure the on-ramp and off-ramp services are as frictionless as possible for our users.”

RAIN crypto broker which similar to CoinMENA has a category three license in Bahrain has on some occasions compared its offering with Binance. In a tweet by one of its founders AJ Nelson in late October in reply to a comment from a client stated, “Yes we are well aware of the problems with bank transfers. We are working directly with regulators to solve. In good time we will have a solution regarding fees, have you used Rain Pro? It has 0 maker fees and tight spreads. Lower fees and pricing than Binance.”

More Competitive Marketing Campaigns lower fees

In terms of marketing campaigns to introduce better services at lower cost, Binance for its launch campaign offered 25% discount on all trading fees for Bahrain users through a link ‘ BHLive’. 

In addition Binance offered the Binance Bahrain Card allowing Bahrain clients to spend cryptocurrencies in over 60 million online and physical stores. 

Furthermore in December as part of its Christmas offering, Binance offered its Arabic speaking clients’ rewards reaching $1.5 million in addition to promotions. As it noted on its twitter page Binance offers 350+ crypto assets with fees of less than 0.10 percent per transaction. 

CoinMENA quickly countered these marketing campaigns with those of its own. For example in January 2023, CoinMENA offered discounted card deposit fees for 48 hours again after doing so in late 2022.

 As per the advert, users would pay only 2% fee on card deposits instead of 3.5%. For Bahrain’s National Day celebrations, CoinMENA offered zero trading fees for a limited time of 48 hours. The crypto exchange had also promoted prior to that a 23% off on trading fees for a specified time period.

 CoinMENA offers around 30 crypto assets for trading with fees of 0.75%.

 Tabaa confirms that the entrance of Binance helped to grow the crypto ecosystem in Bahrain. He stated, “Binance spends a lot on crypto marketing and this actually benefits the entire ecosystem of players.”

 Growth of Crypto Payments

Crypto as a method of payment has also seen significant growth since the entrance of Binance in Bahrain. Binance partnered with EazyPay, a financial payment service provider which has a network of thousands of merchants and over 6000 terminals, to offer crypto as a method of payment while settling transactions with merchants in fiat currency.

According to Nayef Tawfiq Al Alawi, Managing Director and CEO of EazyPay, “As a regulated entity we can only work with regulated entities such as Binance. Since our partnership merchants have been more confident to get into the crypto payment scene and in terms of transactions, while people are still testing the service on average we transact $5000 worth of crypto transaction per day over 6000 terminals in Bahrain. This is really good.”

It hasn’t stopped there, In November 2022 just after Binance entered Bahrain, CoinMENA 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 real estate broker would accept stablecoins like USDT and USDC.

 This only exemplifies the increase in crypto as a method of payment in the country.

Growth in crypto Job market

Binance has viewed Bahrain as a key business hub which will provide areas for growth and employment within the wider industry. Currently Binance has employed 200 people in Bahrain and is continuing to hire. It has job posts for Customer Support Specialist, Senior Treasury Manager and others in Bahrain.

Even RAIN which decreased its employee base by 50% still has around 200 employees while CoinMENA has around16 employees and is also currently hiring with job openings for software engineer in January 2023 as well others.

Conclusion

Changpeng Zhao CZ in a recent tweet  stated, “Bahrain is a hidden gem, super safe, very clean, well developed, good food, superb service, nice people and crypto friendly!”

While CoinMENA affirms that it has known that international players would be entering the region given the poor financial services, high fees and large unbanked population coupled with young demographic population and high smartphone penetration. To him this only shows the market is maturing and accelerating growth.

Binance in 2022, processed a whopping $65 billion in trading volume on average every day, at a speed of approximately 0.7 million transactions per second. The entrance of Binance into markets such as Bahrain has for sure added to the growth of the crypto market and ecosystem.

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.

Qatar to crypto or not to crypto that is the question

Qatar to crypto or not to crypto that is the question

This week Qatar made headlines in the Blockchain, crypto, NFT and metaverse scene on several fronts. While the CEO of Qatar  Sovereign Wealth Fund praised Blockchain but shunned crypto, Qatar’s Central Bank Governor stated that crypto assets are a technology innovation that will take us to a new era of fast accessible payments and financial services. Topping all this was Qatar Airways increased foray into the realm of the metaverse, and NFTs.

It seems that while the government of Qatar has yet to make up its mind on whether it wants to enter the era of cryptocurrencies, or whether they agree that crypto will have to be dealt with at one point or another, they are taking steps towards integrating elements of blockchain and CBDC into their strategies.During the Qatar Economic Forum Qatar Central Bank Governor Bandar Bin Mohammed Bin Saoud Al Thani admitted that Qatar is in the foundation stage of investigating a central bank Digital Currency (CBDC). As he noted, “Many central banks are now considering issuing CBDC, and we are not an exception to that. We are evaluating the pros and cons of issuing the CBDC and to find the proper and the right technology and the platform to issue.”He then noted, “Crypto assets are a technology innovation, and in my view it might take us to a new era of fast accessible payment and financial services.  “Those crypto assets which are not underlying by assets or monetary authority might be less credible.”

On the other hand Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund CEO Mansoor Al Mahmoud revealed that the wealth fund has no interest in investing in Bitcoin, but is still very much interested in exploring blockchain.

He was noted as saying, “Our team in the technology space is exploring opportunities in the blockchain,” Al Mahmoud said in an interview. He adds “This is the space that we’re interested in, not the currency itself.”

In the midst of these discussions Qatar Airways expressed its intention to include the purchase of tickets for physical flights through the QVerse metaverse, and the incorporation of NFTs. 

All this comes while the FIFA World Cup 2022 has partnered with the likes of crypto.com and Algorand Blockchain, and crypto exchange CoinMENA announces it is servicing clients in Qatar through its license in Bahrain. 

Qatar at one point will have to come to grips with the fact that with blockchain the metaverse and digitization comes digital assets, whether they are called cryptocurrencies, crypto assets, virtual assets, tokens or NFTs.

For example if Qatar were to utilize blockchain in the energy sector, and work with companies such as PermianChain which is tokenizing natural resources such as flared gas, and if they wanted to utilize PermianChain’s energy token marketplace, they would at some point need to use the DEC Token to optimize their experience. Tokens and Blockchain go hand in hand despite attempts to de-couple them.

One cannot implement blockchain, invest in blockchain nor create a CBDC to be held in digital wallets, without addressing the elephant in the room which is crypto and or digital asset. So instead of being the black sheep of the GCC Crypto hype, wouldn’t it be better if Qatar was the winning stallion.

Bahrain RAIN Crypto exchange sheds its employees like a snake sheds its skin

Bahrain RAIN Crypto exchange sheds its employees like a snake sheds its skin

So while crypto exchanges flock and grow in the MENA region specifically in Bahrain and the UAE, RAIN crypto exchange has laid off more than 120 employees. Speculations loom as to the reasons, yet one thing is certain; the first regulated crypto exchange to launch in the MENA region is facing the heat and is shedding its employees like a snake sheds its skin. 

So while Binance and CoinMENA, both competitors of RAIN crypto exchange in Bahrain, were receiving upgrades on their licenses to category 4 and category 3 respectively, and while Crypto.com one of the biggest crypto exchanges globally received provisional approval for its virtual assets license from the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), RAIN was making no such announcements. On the contrary the only announcement it was making was that of layoffs.

On May 1st 2022, CoinMENA announced it had received an upgrade to its license from a category 2 to a category 3. As the company on LinkedIn stated, “We are proud to announce that CoinMENA’s license for Crypto-Asset Services has been upgraded from Category 2 to Category 3 by The Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain, His Excellency Mr. Rasheed Al-Maraj. Thank you for your trust and support. We look forward to continuing to offer new services to our users.”

A week prior, Binance announced on its blog that it had received a Category 4 license, as a crypto asset service provider (CASP) from the Central Bank of Bahrain. With the license upgrade Binance Bahrain could now offer a wider range of crypto exchange services. The Category 4 license will allow Binance Bahrain to offer crypto-asset exchange services to customers under the supervision of the Bahrain regulators.

Despite its recent foray into Bahrain, Binance became the first exchange to be granted a category 4 license by the Central Bank of Bahrain. Richard Teng, Head of MENA Binance stated, “The upgrade to a Category 4 license in the Kingdom of Bahrain is a landmark achievement for Binance and further signifies our commitment to being a compliance-first exchange.”

The only one not to receive an upgrade was RAIN which already holds a category three license. On the contrary just days after CoinMENA announced its upgrade, RAIN announced layoffs. In a statement to Bloomberg Joseph Dallago, RAIN CEO stated, “We have had to make tough decisions to be able to navigate through this period of uncertainty and we can confirm we have downsized our Rain workforce.” However RAIN has been through turbulent crypto times before with crypto bear markets in both in 2021 and prior, so what is different today?

It is also interesting to note, that when looking at RAIN’s linkedIn page, RAIN had been on a hiring spree over the past 6 months since early 2022. The crypto market has been facing turbulent times since late December 2021, yet RAIN was continuing to hire. As per the linkedIn page RAIN saw an increase of 45 percent headcount growth in past 6 months.

So what else could it be? In January  2022 Bahrain based RAIN raised USD 110 million in its Series B funding. The round was co-led by Paradigm and Kleiner Perkins with participation from numerous parties including Coinbase Ventures, Global Founders Capital, MEVP (Middle East Venture Partners), Cadenza Ventures, JIMCOand CMT Digital.

Prior to that RAIN in January 2021,  had raised 6 million USD in a Series A funding also with the participation of MENA based MEVP as well as CoinBase ventures. At the time the founders of RAIN Abdullah Almoaiqel, AJ Nelson, Joseph Dallago, and Yehia Badawy, had stated that RAIN would continue to grow its team across the region hoping to double in size by 2022 while it expanded across the region.

So could RAIN’s decision to lay off employees be related to what is happening with one of its major investors, CoinBase?  CoinBase announced it was freezing new hires as well as cutting back on its work force.  In a blog post written by Chief People Officer L.J. Brock, Coinbase, he said, “We will extend our hiring pause for both new and backfill roles for the foreseeable future and rescind a number of accepted offers. The cutbacks come in response to the current market conditions and ongoing business prioritization efforts,”   This comes after Gemini exchange announced it was laying off 10% of its staff, or roughly 100 people.

Could CoinBase business prioritization efforts be affecting RAIN as a crypto exchange?

Some comments on social media platforms centered around the fact that RAIN had fired a number of employees within its Money Laundering Reporting Office as well as junior employees, while retaining its senior staff.

In addition, Bahrain based Cryptos Consultancy which operates Crypto Talents Middle East is offering RAIN employees effected by the layoffs  help in finding other employment. 

Regardless of the RAIN debacle, and how it will play out in the long term, it is obvious that the crypto ecosystem is still growing in GCC and MENA with more local and international players setting up operations.

Blockchain Expert Don Tapscott speaking at Blockchain Revolution Summit in Qatar

Blockchain Expert Don Tapscott speaking at Blockchain Revolution Summit in Qatar

Qatar will witness a blockchain revolution summit on the 26th of May 2022 at St. Regis Doha Qatar, with the participation of Dr. Don Tapscott, Executive Chairman of the Blockchain Research Institute, and well known as a leading Blockchain expert.

The summit is being organized by the Blockchain Research Institute Middle East, the first regional branch of Blockchain Research Institute based out of Qatar. The event is set to discuss opportunities to create industry solution frameworks and guidelines leveraging blockchain technologies to secure data, reduce costs and improve timelines.

The interesting highlights of this summit are the speakers and sponsors. Aside from Don Tapscott, speakers include Fadi Nasser, Chief Commercial Officer of Meeza Qatar. Meeza is also sponsoring the event. Nebil Ben Aissa, Chief Executive officer for Nexxo, a private equity investment network dedicated to FinTech is also participating.

In addition Khalid Al Ansari a Doctor of Law (JD) and a Ph.D. candidate in Islamic Finance and Economy at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Doha, Qatar currently working on finalizing his Ph.D. dissertation in digital economy and blockchain, is also participating as a speaker.  

While both, Shahid A Syed, Head of Transaction Banking & Innovation Dukhan Bank and Mr. Gudni Stiholt Adalsteinsson Acting CEO Doha Bank & Chief Treasury & Investment Officer are also participating as speakers with Doha Bank sponsoring as well.

Dr. Ammar Darwish Al-Obaidani President of the Oman Blockchain Club (2017-2019) is also participating. Since 2019, he has been leading a government company that develops customized integrated digital solutions as a CEO (Frontier Technology LLC).

The significance lies in the level of participants which including the banking and academic sector as well as investors.

This summit comes at a significant time in Qatar. In April for example Qatar Airways announced  it has stepped into the metaverse with the launch of Qverse a Virtual reality experience for visitors on its website with MetaHuman cabin crew, called Sama giving virtual tours. Sama’s name originates from Arabic and translates to ‘sky’. She is a high fidelity digital human brought to life using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, real-time 3D creation tool that’s used by leading game makers. Neutral Digital developed the VR experience for Qatar airways.

In addition Ooreedo Qatar, mobile telecom group, will be holding its EA Sports FIFA22 Champions Cup being entirely broadcasted in the metaverse and will offer exclusive NFT tokens. The tournament is taking place on May May 24, 25, and 28 at Aspire Ladies Sports Hall in Doha in front of e-Sports enthusiasts who will get the chance to see prominent gamers compete for the title.

Major FIFA and Qatari influencers will also attend the tournament, in addition to a plethora of entertainment and activities to ensure an unforgettable night. Ooredoo Nation – Gamers’ Land, the company’s own eSports brand, will also offer a selection of exclusive non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

“We are proud and excited to be venturing into the world of Web 3.0 technologies with this latest eSports development, which aligns perfectly with our strategic commitment to investment in innovation,” said Nasser bin Hamad bin Nasser Al Thani, Chief Commercial Officer at Ooredoo.

“We see eSports as one of the key areas of focus in this digital era, and an area in which we can explore the many opportunities to offer our customers an unrivalled experience.”

This comes after FIFA2022 announced that crypto.com will be sponsoring and AlGorand Blockchain will be a partner. It also comes after CoinMENA, crypto exchange announced it is serving clients in Qatar which prompted a reply from Qatar Central Bank noting that it has not licensed any crypto exchanges in Qatar and will take legal actions against any crypto exchange which claims to be operating with a license in Qatar. When questioned by LaraontheBlock Dina Semaan noted, “ People took this out of context, we never said we were licensed or regulated in Qatar, we said we now offer our services to Qatar, which could be from any location in the world and in this case from our licensed entity in Bahrain.” She added, “We can support all GCC countries and other MENA countries upon approval from Central Bank of Bahrain.”

Qatar opens its doors to CoinMENA Crypto exchange as a regulated exchange

Qatar opens its doors to CoinMENA Crypto exchange as a regulated exchange

CoinMENA Chief Operating Officer Dina Semaan announced today on twitter that CoinMENA crypto exchange is now serving clients in Qatar. This would be the first crypto exchange to officially announce that it is serving clients in Qatar. As per her tweet, “Starting from today, CoinMENA services are now being offered in Qatar, making us the first regulated crypto exchange to be offering services in Qatar.” She adds with this expansion we now offer CoinMENA services in six Arab countries, and we continue to achieve our goals of offering the simplest and easiest method for trading crypto.” This comes after Qatar’s FIFA 2022 took on sponsors such as Crypto.com, one of the international crypto exchanges globally. It also comes after FIFA signed up AlGorand Blockchain as a sponsor and partner for their digitization plans in the sports and entertainment sector. CoinMENA was first regulated in Bahrain, and then sought regulation in UAE, and offers its services in KSA, Kuwait, Oman, and now Qatar as a regulated entity. In the press release CoinMENA confirms that it has become the first regional digital assets exchange to offer its services in Qatar, meaning that users across the Gulf state can now easily and safely invest in cryptocurrencies for the first time. Qatari citizens and residents can open accounts with CoinMENA and have access to all the features the platform has to offer, including connecting their bank accounts to their CoinMENA wallets, enabling them to deposit and withdraw funds directly and safely within minutes. Commenting in a joint statement, CoinMENA Co-Founders Dina Sam’an and Talal Tabbaa said: “We are delighted to become the first crypto exchange to offer our services in Qatar. Investors have been asking about our plans to enter the country for some time now, so this news represents a major milestone on our long-term geographic market expansion plans.” The Bahrain-headquartered firm recently became the first onshore licensed crypto exchange to introduce limit trading, enabling the CoinMENA users to set the price at which they wish to buy and sell crypto. Users in Qatar will also be able to utilize the recently added features including withdrawing USDT via the TRON network for lower fees, and earning bonus rewards when they invite their friends through CoinMENA’s referral program. “CoinMENA’s entry into Qatar is a huge step on our journey to becoming the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region’s preferred crypto financial services company,” said Sam’an. “Our team is constantly striving to onboard new countries and introduces new features to a wider audience.” “We are immensely proud of everything we have achieved during our first year of operations,” Tabbaa added. “However, we still have a lot to achieve, which is why we will continue to work tirelessly to deliver the best possible experience for our ever-expanding user base.”