Bybit crypto exchange hosts trading workshop with UAE University of Wollongong

Bybit crypto exchange hosts trading workshop with UAE University of Wollongong

Bybit, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, which has an in principle approval from VARA in Dubai, has partnered exclusively with the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD) to host a Demo Trading Challenge & Workshop at UOWD campus. This initiative equipped students from Business Analysis, Finance, Accounting, and other business-related disciplines with practical trading knowledge, enhanced their understanding of cryptocurrency markets, and bridged the gap between academic theory and real-world trading strategies.

UOWD, the UAE’s first international Australian university, is recognized for its commitment to academic excellence and industry collaboration. Accredited by both the UAE Ministry of Education and Australia’s Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), UOWD has played a key role in developing future business and finance leaders.

The workshop provided participants with hands-on experience using Bybit’s demo trading platform, allowing them to navigate market fluctuations in real time while learning key strategies from industry experts. The event culminated in a competitive trading challenge, where students applied their newly acquired knowledge in a dynamic, risk-free environment.

Attendees also gained insights from a lineup of distinguished speakers alongside Bybit’s senior product managers specializing in trading bots, copy trading, and demo trading. Their expertise gave students a deeper understanding of spot and contract trading processes, market data analysis, and risk management.

“At Bybit, we believe that financial literacy and hands-on experience are key to unlocking opportunities in the digital economy,” said Phoebe Peng, Head of Organization Development at Bybit. “Through this collaboration with UOWD, we empowered the next generation of professionals with the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in the evolving world of cryptocurrency trading.”

Crypto.com’s new license gives retail clients USD fiat rails through Standard and Chartered Bank

Crypto.com’s new license gives retail clients USD fiat rails through Standard and Chartered Bank


Crypto.com announced that Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority has issued the crypto exchange a limited license to offer derivatives in the UAE as well as enable retail users to access USD fiat rails for depositing and withdrawing USD from their crypto account through Standard and Chartered Bank.

Crypto derivatives are financial contracts whose value is derived from the price of an underlying cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin or Ethereum. These instruments allow traders to speculate on future price movements without owning the underlying assets. The four major types of derivative contracts are options, forwards, futures and swaps.

With this limited license, the crypto exchange’s regional entity plans to initiate offering various derivatives products, including futures, perpetual swap contracts, and CFDs. CFD stands for contract for difference, a type of derivative product that you can use to speculate on the future direction of a market’s price.

These services will be available to eligible institutions globally, with qualified investors to follow at a later date. Additionally, through this limited license, all of the crypto exchange’s retail users can access USD fiat rails for depositing and withdrawing USD from their Crypto.com account via Standard Chartered.

“We are aggressively transforming and evolving Crypto.com to provide users around the world all of the financial technology tools they are looking for in one place,” said Eric Anziani, President and COO of Crypto.com. “With this approval from VARA for a limited license, we are taking a significant and exciting step forward in our pursuit.”

A few days earlier the exchange also announced that it had partnered with an AI Blockchain tech firm in UAE called Tawasal Al Khaleej. Tawasal has developed a mobile messaging application that is currently being utilized by UAE governmental entities and other industries within the UAE. Tawasal AlKhaleej will use crypto.com as their exclusive crypto partner of choice.

UAE SCA grants Bybit in principle crypto exchange license

UAE SCA grants Bybit in principle crypto exchange license

Bybit, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has received its second in principle license approval in the UAE from The Securities and Commodities Authority in the UAE. This is its second in principle license approval as it has previously received one from Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA).

The in principle approval (IPA) will allow Bybit to set up a virtual asset platform operation within the UAE. Bybit is also in the final steps to receive its fully operational license soon. This milestone marks a significant step in Bybit’s ongoing mission to provide a secure, stable, and compliant platform for crypto traders in the region.

As per the press release, this IPA underscores the crypto exchange’s commitment to upholding the highest regulatory and compliance standards as it works toward full operational approval from the SCA. This authorization moves the exchange closer to offering a broad range of digital asset services to both retail and institutional clients in the UAE.

Ben Zhou, Co-founder and CEO of Bybit, commented on this milestone, “We are honored to have received the IPA from SCA. This approval marks a crucial step in our journey to providing secure and transparent crypto trading solutions. Bybit remains dedicated to working hand-in-hand with regulators to foster a compliant and innovative digital asset ecosystem to both retail and institutional investors in the UAE.”

Beyond UAE, crypto exchange continues to secure regulatory approvals worldwide, expanding its presence in key jurisdictions such as India, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, etc, further reinforcing its regulatory commitment. These licenses enable Bybit to expand its reach while maintaining the highest security and compliance standards for its users worldwide.

This in principle license comes days after Bybit was hacked for $1.4 billion dollars.

UAE regulated GCEX crypto exchange launches new crypto tool

UAE regulated GCEX crypto exchange launches new crypto tool

GC Exchange FZE (GCEX), part of the GCEX Group, a UAE regulated crypto exchange offering trading technology has launched XplorAllocate, a multi-asset crypto tool designed to help fund managers and professional traders allocate trades more efficiently, accurately, and transparently across crypto spot, crypto derivatives, forex CFDs, and traditional financial products.

GCEX’s XplorAllocate addresses this by streamlining trade execution and allocation, resulting in improved accuracy and enhanced compliance. Instead of managing individual client accounts separately, fund managers and professional traders can now execute a single block trade, which is then automatically allocated across their clients based on their proportional share of the total investment pool – reducing the time spent on this task without having to use a PAMM, MAM, or similar tools.

Mehtap Önder, Managing Director, GCEX MENA commented, “Traders need tools that make their lives easier, not more complicated. With GCEX’s XplorAllocate, we’re providing a seamless, automated solution that takes care of the heavy lifting, removing the complexity of manually executing trades for each client, saving time, reducing errors, and ensuring that every allocation adheres to regulatory and investment policy requirements. Whether you’re trading crypto derivatives or traditional financial products, this tool simplifies the allocation process so you can focus on what really matters – executing your strategy.”

With real-time visibility, traders using GCEX’s XplorAllocate gain full transparency and a clear audit trail. The tool’s customisable allocation logic provides flexibility and ensures that trades are distributed accurately based on portfolio needs. It allows users to allocate by percentage or share size and combine multiple orders into custom average prices.

XplorAllocate is part of GCEX’s broader strategy to enhance its institutional-grade XplorDigital solutions for institutional and professional clients. XplorDigital features innovative plug-and-play solutions, ‘Crypto in a Box’ and ‘Broker in a Box’.

UAE Fuze digital assets solutions in Turkey with Aktif ventures

UAE Fuze digital assets solutions in Turkey with Aktif ventures

UAE Fuze, a digital assets infrastructure provider has partnered with Turkish based Aktif Ventures, that invests, advices and offers Fintech technologies. Aktif Ventures will utilize the digital asset solutions offered by Fuze to its product portfolio.

With this partnership, Aktif Ventures will be able to provide OTC solutions to CMB intermediaries and banks in the field of large-scale corporate acquisitions and asset management, while also offering KYC and custody processes that comply with the legislation in cooperation with the institutions it is integrated with.

Yasemin Evsahibioğlu, General Manager of Aktif Ventures, said, “As Aktif Ventures, we continue to develop our fintech ecosystem with our leading API marketplace Apilion. I can say that we have developed our new term strategy by focusing on the financial technologies of the future and have achieved an important milestone in our sector with our partnership with Fuze Finance. I believe that with this partnership, we will take on a pioneering role in the crypto field, which is one of the new actors in the fintech world, and make a difference with our products.”

Fuze Finance CEO Mo Ali Yusuf added, “Fuze, has become one of the strongest financial institutions in the region, and it will continue its success in the Turkish market. With our unique DaaS (Digital Asset as a Service) infrastructure, high-volume crypto trading services, OTC services and advanced custody solutions that we offer to financial institutions, we aim to meet the most critical needs of the market with the most reliable and innovative infrastructures.”

The collaboration will leverage Fuze’s suite of offerings, making crypto trading, liquidity management, OTC solutions, wallet/custody services, and real-time portfolio management more accessible than ever.

Banks and intermediaries can now access a secure, fully compliant infrastructure for large-scale institutional transactions, all while seamlessly integrating KYC and custody processes. No hassle, no complexity – just fast, secure, and scalable solutions for the digital age.

Earlier in the year UAE regulated CoinMENA and Fuze were the first crypto exchanges in MENA to be onboarded onto Mastercard Crypto Credential platform that allows crypto exchange users to send and receive cryptocurrencies using simple aliases instead of complex blockchain addresses.

MasterCard, Notabene and UAE crypto exchange M2 to pilot securing metadata in crypto trading

MasterCard, Notabene and UAE crypto exchange M2 to pilot securing metadata in crypto trading

Notabene, a provider of crypto compliance solutions, has partnered with Mastercard to bring simplicity and enhanced safety to their powerful crypto compliance tools. Through a pilot program with M2,a regulated crypto exchange in UAE, Notabene will integrate Mastercard Crypto Credential into its SafeTransact platform, facilitating the secure and privacy-preserving exchange of transaction metadata for M2’s digital asset trading services.

As per the press release, the pilot aims to showcase how VASPs and traditional financial institutions can come together to mitigate risks associated with digital asset transfers while maintaining operational simplicity for institutions and their retail customers.


Mastercard Crypto Credential verifies transactions among consumers and businesses using blockchain networks, providing the assurance that a user has met a set of verification standards and confirming that the recipient’s wallet supports the transferred asset. The solution simplifies the consumer experience by allowing crypto exchange users to send and receive digital assets – such as stablecoins being leveraged for remittances, a growing use case – using simple aliases, instead of the typically long and complex blockchain addresses.

This integration between Notabene, M2 and Mastercard aims to significantly improve counterparty identification rates, ensuring compliance with the Travel Rule while reducing friction in VASP-to-VASP and cross-border transactions. By employing advanced encryption and data minimization practices, the integration will help ensure that sensitive information is protected while also enabling convenient and compliant transactions.

Pelle Braendgaard, CEO of Notabene, commented on the partnership,”Our collaboration with Mastercard represents a significant leap forward in making crypto transactions as safe and straightforward as traditional financial operations. By combining our expertise in crypto compliance with Mastercard’s global reach and digital assets capabilities, we’re setting a new standard for consumer trust in crypto payments. This partnership is not just about solving today’s compliance challenges but also lays the groundwork for supporting innovations such as self-hosted wallet integrations, further expanding the scope of secure and trusted crypto transactions.”

“As the digital assets ecosystem matures, Mastercard is continuing to innovate to stay ahead while ensuring safe, compliant, and trusted interactions,” said Raj Dhamodharan, executive vice president, Blockchain & Digital Assets at Mastercard. “By integrating Mastercard Crypto Credential with Notabene’s industry-leading compliance solutions, we’re enhancing connectivity and trust to foster the adoption and integration of a range of digital assets – from Bitcoin to stablecoins – into the global financial ecosystem. This partnership with Notabene and M2 expands our reach and interoperability across the crypto landscape.”

In collaboration with M2, Mastercard and Notabene are demonstrating practical applications of this joint solution. Deepak Garg, Chief Compliance Officer at M2, adds: “As a leading virtual assets service provider, we are committed to staying aligned with global regulatory standards while enhancing the user experience for our customers. By partnering with Notabene and Mastercard, we can bring even more secure and compliant digital asset transactions to a global audience. This approach not only strengthens trust with our customers, but also opens new opportunities for growth by expanding the network of reliable counterparties for safe and secure transactions.”

The pilot program is currently limited to select regions, including the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and several European countries, with plans for expansion in the near future.

UAE headquartered crypto exchange FreedX raises $50 million

UAE headquartered crypto exchange FreedX raises $50 million

Freedx, a cryptocurrency exchange with its headquarters noted to be in Dubai UAE, yet unregulated in the country till now, claims that it has raised $50 million in a funding round. The $50 million fundraising will enable Freedx to accelerate platform enhancements, expand global reach, and strengthen its customer support capabilities. While the crypto exchange notes that it has secured regulatory permission in Panama and a BTC license in El Salvador, it is taking steps to expand its compliance efforts globally.

As per the press release, the investment reflects investor confidence in Freedx’s approach to offering a platform designed with a focus on clarity, simplicity, and advanced trading tools.

The exchange aims to fill a vital gap in the market by combining advanced capabilities—such as optimized order routing, real-time analytics, and frictionless execution—with a sleek, user-friendly interface. Since its inception, the Freedx team has grown to nearly 100 members dedicated to building a transparent, efficient, and secure trading environment.

“At Freedx, we believe that trading should be as seamless and transparent as possible. This fundraise validates our vision to build a platform that prioritizes traders’ needs above all else. We’re thrilled about the opportunity to continue developing innovations that empower our community and drive the industry forward.” said Jonathan Farnell, CEO, Freedx. 

The roster of executives include Anton Golub, as Chief Investment Officer. Anton is based in Dubai UAE, and is well known in the blockchain space and crypto space, yet on his own LinkedIn page he does not mention his affiliation to the crypto exchange.

Another employee at UAE crypto exchange Midchains leaves

Another employee at UAE crypto exchange Midchains leaves

Another Midchains employee has left for other opportunities in the UAE. Yesterday Scintilla announced that it had appointed the former compliance officer from Midchains to lead their compliance operations, while OKX has also appointed former Midchain’s Head of Operations as Head of Trading in Dubai. Liam Birch joins OKX after serving as Head of Operations at Midchain, previously also working with Rain crypto broker.

For those unfamiliar with Midchains, is a fully regulated virtual asset trading platform and custodian, backed by investors including Mubadala, ADQ, MIAX Exchange Group, and more.

Liam in a LinkedIn post stated, “I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve joined OKX as the new Head of Trading in Dubai! I’m beyond excited to be part of such an innovative and dynamic team at one of the world’s leading virtual asset platforms. October marked a major milestone for OKX with the receipt of their VARA license, reinforcing the commitment to regulatory compliance and setting new standards in the industry. Additionally, they became the first global cryptocurrency exchange to launch AED pairs, further solidifying the dedication to bringing secure, accessible, and regulated solutions to the market.”

This comes after Scintilla, an institutional-grade tokenization solution provider, which recently acquired UAE regulated TOKO a crypto exchange appointed the previous head of compliance at Midchains, Janey Schueller, as Chief Compliance Officer. Scintilla viewed this key leadership addition as the company continues to expand its innovative digital asset creation platform and strengthen its compliance framework.

The last time Midchains had a major announcement was in 2022. At the time UAE Midchain’s, crypto exchange partnered with UAE Al Maryah Community Bank, a digital bank to provide a secure channel for investing and trading cryptocurrencies and digital assets through the bank’s establishment of escrow accounts in UAE dirhams to protect investors’ funds on cryptocurrency trading platforms and boost their trust.

On LinkedIn, Midchains has been posting job opportunities that include the hiring of a Cloud & IT Administrator in Dubai, as well as a Director of Operations.

It is interesting to see that as the crypto exchange market becomes more competitive in the UAE, we will see more talents moving from one operation to another. Could this lead to consolidations amidst the crypto trading ecosystem, it might!

OFZA Crypto exchange now licensed by Dubai’s Regulator

OFZA Crypto exchange now licensed by Dubai’s Regulator

OFZA, a UAE established cryptocurrency exchange that provides seamless and secure crypto trading offering has secured a full VASP license from Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA). As per the license, OFZA will be able to offer crypto broker-dealer Services, crypto exchange services, management and Investment Services as well as advisory services to both retail and institutional investors as well as qualified investors in the UAE.

With the license from VARA, OFZA becomes the 20th Virtual Asset exchange and broker provider to be licensed by VARA in the UAE. The license comes at a time when crypto is gaining immense traction with the new Trump administration.

The crypto exchange will be competing with players such as Binance, CoinMENA, Crypto.com, OKX and others in the UAE.

According to Chainalysis’ Geography of Crypto Report 2024, the UAE saw a 42% year-on-year growth in crypto transactions, receiving $34 billion between July 2023 and June 2024. The Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) accounted for 7.5% of all cryptocurrency transaction volume globally between July 2023 and June 2024.

Chainalysis estimated the total value received during the period to be $338.7 billion, with the vast majority of the transaction volume coming from institutional and professional investors.

UAE Further Ventures invests $5 million in GRVT decentralized crypto exchange

UAE Further Ventures invests $5 million in GRVT decentralized crypto exchange

UAE based Further Ventures, capital markets investment firm, has invested $5 million in GRVT, a regulated Decentralized exchange. The investment will be utilized to drive GRVT’s Middle East expansion and license progress.


GRVT (pronounced “gravity”), a regulated DEX, on its blog, believes the investment marks another significant milestone for GRVT, following its recent achievement of securing a Class M (“Modified”) Digital Asset Business License from the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA), making it the world’s first regulated DEX.

As a strategic partner, Further Ventures will provide essential support in product development, legal and regulatory guidance, talent recruitment, and business development, enabling GRVT to enhance its offerings for both retail and institutional traders across the Middle East. This will accelerate GRVT’s growth, strengthening its position as the first licensed blockchain-settled exchange and underscoring its next goal of securing a Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) capital markets license.

“We are thrilled to this strategic round and have the support from Further Ventures as we continue to redefine the future of crypto exchanges,” said Hong Yea, Co-Founder and CEO of GRVT. “This investment is a crucial step in our expansion into the Abu Dhabi market, whose innovative crypto ecosystem and progressive regulatory frameworks make it an ideal base as we aim to lead the compliant DeFi development across the Middle East region. With Further Ventures’ backing, we’re well-positioned to meet the needs of both retail and institutional investors here.”

“GRVT is redefining the convergence of DeFi and TradFi with a compliance-first, self-custody approach,” said Mohamed Hamdy, Managing Partner at Further Ventures. “By integrating the efficiency and familiarity of traditional financial systems with the security and transparency of blockchain technology, GRVT is setting the stage for the future of global finance. This visionary blend of innovation and responsibility aligns perfectly with our mission to lead the region in shaping the next era of digital assets and financial services.”

GRVT launched its Mainnet Alpha in December 2024, reaching a 30-day trading volume of nearly $1.3 billion and an all-time high 24-hour trading volume of $88 million.

Earlier this month, Further Ventures, led a $16 million investment Series A round in French digital asset wallet and custodian developer, DFNS, DFNS, which was launched in 2020, and has operations both in Paris and New York aims to compete against FireBlocks and Ledger. Using the funds raised both in 2022, $12 million and that raised in January 2024 $16 million, the startup plans to accelerate its development to meet requirements of financial institutions.