Versifi an OTC crypto trading and lending firm receives initial approval from ADGM in UAE

Versifi an OTC crypto trading and lending firm receives initial approval from ADGM in UAE

VersiFi, a crypto and digital asset trading and lending firm, has received In-Principle Approval (IPA) from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of ADGM in UAE.

As per the announcement, subject to final regulatory approval, VersiFi will launch a fully regulated digital asset trading solution for institutional clients from its new global headquarters in ADGM.

VersiFi’s ADGM presence is led by a team of exceptional financial services executives whose experience spans both digital and traditional assets at firms such as the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, ADS Securities, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, Gemini, Interactive Brokers, JP Morgan, Standard Chartered and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

VersiFi is working to address the IPA conditions and, subject to FSRA’s approval, plans to offer institutional clients a full trading solution, that will include direct Market Access (DMA) to leading digital asset trading venues; market-leading algorithmic trading that improves trade execution and efficiency; bilateral OTC trading in both spot and derivatives; powerful tools for real-time portfolio and risk management; a full range of KYC and AML protocols and segregated custody via secure, third-party digital asset custodians.


“ADGM has established one of the most robust and dynamic regulatory frameworks in the world and they are taking a leading role in the responsible regulation of digital assets,” said Sameer Shalaby, CEO, VersiFi.

“The FSRA has impressed us with its diligence and collaborative approach and we are committed to building and upholding the highest level of integrity and security as part of the progressive financial services community in the UAE. Receiving our IPA is a validation of our vision and an important step for VersiFi as we to contribute to the region’s digital asset growth story while building our own.”

“We are delighted to be the first DMA and OTC trading firm to be granted IPA,” said John Livingstone, ADGM Regional Head, VersiFi. “We are focused and actively working with the FSRA to comprehensively address all the IPA conditions and we are looking forward to serving clients globally from our ADGM headquarters.”

VersiFi is fully committed to the UAE, and subject to the regulatory approval and receipt of the Financial Services Permission, the company plans on making further investments to expand its presence in the region.

UAE licensed crypto exchanges target Institutional Investors with new products and offerings

UAE licensed crypto exchanges target Institutional Investors with new products and offerings

In just 24 hours several crypto exchanges licensed in the UAE have been promoting new offerings and campaigns targeting professional and institutional traders. OKX, Binance, GCEX and Deribit all have come out with announcements on new service offerings for institutional players, and all these crypto exchanges have licenses in the UAE.

OKX, a leading cryptocurrency exchange and global on chain technology company, announced the launch of its ‘Trade Like a Pro’ brand campaign. The campaign celebrates “A New Alternative for the UAE,” marking OKX’s recent milestone of becoming operationally live and licensed in the region as of October 10, 2024.

It is tailored specifically for UAE audiences and presented in both Arabic and English, the campaign provides a unique opportunity for local traders to learn strategies from professional traders in their market and understand why they chose OKX as their preferred trading platform. OKX is the first global crypto company in the UAE to offer AED banking rails for its retail and institutional customers and this campaign further underscores its commitment to the UAE and dedication to fostering the growth of the crypto and Web3 ecosystem in the region.

To celebrate the launch of this campaign in the UAE, OKX is offering eligible customers the chance to receive up to 100 USDT by reaching set trading volumes across spot and futures. Additionally, customers can earn 10 USDT by depositing 50 USDT into their accounts, plus an extra 50 USDT for sharing the campaign on their social media platforms. For more details about the ‘Trade Like a Pro with OKX’ campaign, running from October 29 to November 30, click here.

Even Binance has announced Binance Wealth, a technological solution for wealth managers. As per Binance, Binance Wealth allows wealth managers to oversee the onboarding of their clients and make investment recommendations, allowing their clients to receive strong support during onboarding and thereafter while retaining full discretionary control, akin to traditional wealth management.

Wealth managers must first apply to access Binance Wealth. After being successfully onboarded, they can then help support their clients’ onboarding journey by submitting the necessary KYC/KYB documentation for verification. Onboarded clients can then manage their own investments directly as well as receive recommendations from their

Catherine Chen, Head of Binance VIP & Institutional shared, “As investors worldwide recognize the potential of digital assets, we are responding to wealth managers and their clients asking for a solution to more easily access crypto. Unlocking capital inflow is key to making digital assets mainstream but there has long been a lack of traditional infrastructure for the private wealth segment to gain exposure to crypto. Binance Wealth will reduce the entry barrier for more market participants to access this new asset class and help bridge crypto and traditional finance.”

While GCEX Group, digital asset and foreign exchange solutions, has partnered with RULEMATCH, a leading market operator, to offer its institutional clients access to one of the world’s fastest trading venues for cryptocurrencies.

RULEMATCH is a spot crypto trading venue based in Switzerland, built on institutional grade technology. In addition to unparalleled execution speeds, it offers access to competitive and consistent liquidity from regulated market makers, capital efficient post-trade settlement, and stringent AML/CFT controls.

This latest development from GCEX enables its client base of hedge funds, algorithmic trading firms, brokers and ETF/ETP providers to benefit from binding quotes in an anonymous Central-Limit Order Book (CLOB) and execution times of 25 microseconds. To ensure capital efficiency and minimise settlement risks, multilateral clearing and settlement are fully integrated and handled via GCEX acting as Prime Broker Sponsor.

Lars Holst, CEO, GCEX said, “We are continually looking to push boundaries and extend our offering. Our partnership with RULEMATCH presents a fantastic opportunity for our clients. RULEMATCH is built on state-of-the-art institutional grade technology that offers ultra-low latency trading of cryptocurrencies, with ultra-competitive fees and consistent execution latency down to 25 microseconds. Their offering is very impressive and we share the same ethos in terms of market integrity and professionalism.”

Finally Deribit, a digital assets derivatives exchange, launched its support for hybrid custody solutions that allow for quicker onboarding of third-party custodians and brokerages for capital markets traders. At launch, custody firms set to utilize the hybrid model include Fidelity Digital Assets®, Copper Securities, and Zodia, with others set to be onboarded later this year.

Deribit’s current third-party custodians are fully integrated with the exchange, allowing traders to leverage all of Deribit’s trading capabilities via an API without the funds ever needing to leave their account. However, these integrations take time, making it harder for institutional traders to access the exchange and giving them fewer options for how to secure collateral. The hybrid custody model solves this problem as custodians are able to offer Deribit as a trading venue without needing full integration, giving traders using Fidelity Digital Assets® and others faster access to the Deribit trading platform.

Deribit CEO Luuk Strijers commented on the news, “At Deribit, we are committed to continually innovating and meeting the evolving needs of our institutional members and make it easier for all to access crypto derivatives markets. Throughout 2024, we have continued to focus on our institutional clients to create a fulsome trading experience in the broader finance ecosystem. Supporting a hybrid custody model marks a significant step forward, providing enhanced flexibility for accessing Deribit’s world-class digital asset derivatives trading offerings. By allowing for a hybrid model with these external custody solutions, we empower our clients while maintaining the seamless trading experience Deribit is known for.”

In a hybrid model, Deribit traders leveraging a custodian that isn’t integrated with the exchange will have to store a percentage of assets on the exchange to meet collateral requirements, while the rest will be secured by their custodian of choice. Members will need to deposit 20% of their total assets on Deribit by default, but this number is subject to change depending on trading activity, exposure, risk profiles, and market conditions. Daily settlements of profit and loss occur within the Deribit platform.

As of early 2024, institutional investors and companies have poured billions into the cryptocurrency space. In Q1 2024, over $2.4 billion was invested by venture capital firms in crypto startups. Over 70% of institutional investors are planning to put money in crypto this year.

Institutional investment in the crypto space is surging in the United Arab Emirates. Blockchain data platform Chainalysis found that institutional investments (each exceeding $1 million in value) constituted more than 67% of cryptocurrency transactions in the federation of seven emirates between July 2022 and June 2023. Following these institutional transactions were transfers linked to professional investments, ranging from $10,000 to $1 million, and retail investments made up 4.63% of all transfers in the Emirates, according to a report published on Sept. 26.

Peregrine and Tsangs offer blockchain tokenization to institutional investors

Peregrine and Tsangs offer blockchain tokenization to institutional investors

Abu Dhabi based Peregrine, a digital asset tokenization provider and a licensed fund management platform, has partnered with Tsangs Group, innovation focused family office to offer high quality institutional investor marketplace in UAE.

“Tsangs Group is the first Far East family office to set up in the Dubai International Financial Centre since 2021; we are pleased to shape our profile with this promising partnership, as Peregrine is banking on the Gulf state’s world class banking infrastructure and connectivity to financial centers like Hong Kong or London,” said Patrick Tsang, Chairman of Tsangs Group.

Peregrine is renowned for its industry leading blockchain based asset tokenisation platform, which has been reviewed by the ADGM’s local regulatory body Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), and its strategic partnerships with major blockchains.

“Peregrine views Tsangs Group as a key global strategic partner featuring a world class team with high quality institutional assets and is compelled by the mission to bridge opportunities from East to West,” said Simon Goodman, CEO & Co-Founder of Peregrine.

Together, Peregrine and Tsangs Group are perfectly positioned to bring high quality institutional products to the ADGM using advanced blockchain technology.

“Abu Dhabi is quickly emerging as a key strategic hub in the global digital assets industry, and the Peregrine platform sees itself at the forefront of its evolution. Building relationships in Abu Dhabi and beyond is instrumental to the development of Peregrine in the ADGM and surrounding region,” said Paul Salama-Caro, CIO and Co-Founder of Peregrine.

CoinMENA expands investor offering with Onramp Bitcoin

CoinMENA expands investor offering with Onramp Bitcoin

UAE and Bahrain regulated crypto exchange CoinMENA expands its family office, investor and institutional offering through a partnership with Onramp Bitcoin. Onramp is an international Bitcoin asset management company built on multi institutional custody.

Onramp’s platform provides best-in-class products and solutions for HNWI, Family Offices, and Institutions to onboard Bitcoin.

In addition the partnership aims to empower MENA investors with high-quality Bitcoin educational resources such as proprietary written research, rich video content and analytic tools.

Both companies are poised to explore innovative custody solutions designed specifically for institutional investors. The collaboration comes on the heels of Onramp’s recent announcement of a partnership with BitGo, CoinMENA’s current custody partner.

In a joint statement, CoinMENA’s founders, Talal Tabbaa and Dina Sam’an said, “We are excited because this partnership fills a market gap for premium Bitcoin market research, and aligns with our educational approach to empower regional investors to invest in Bitcoin based on sound logic and a deep understanding of its unique and fundamental properties. As Bitcoin evolves into a mainstream international asset class, providing insightful analysis becomes essential for investors and asset managers, guiding them in making confident, long-term investment decisions.”

Onramp Co-Founder and CEO Michael Tanguma added “Onramp recognizes that Bitcoin is a global asset, necessitating the broad dissemination of valuable Bitcoin-focused educational resources across the world – research, podcasts, webinars, data-driven tools like the Onramp Terminal – access to these types of high-quality materials, combined with a first principles approach to custody, is the recipe for successful long-term Bitcoin ownership. We are excited to partner with the team to provide tools and education to one of the fastest-growing regions in the digital asset space.”

This comes just after the USA regulators allowed the launch of Bitcoin ETFs.

Binance executes first crypto triparty agreement with a bank partner

Binance executes first crypto triparty agreement with a bank partner

Binance in a recent press release dated November 30th 2023 and coming out of Dubai UAE has announced that it has successfully executed the world’s first cryptocurrency triparty arrangement with a third party banking partner. As per the release, the solution enables institutional investors to keep trading collateral, off-exchange in the custody of a third party banking partner. This is the first in a series of pilot projects initiated by Binance, which is currently the only cryptocurrency exchange offering such a solution.

Binance does not mention the name of the bank, but states that this arrangement directly tackles the issue of counterparty risk, the primary concern for institutional investors today. It replicates a framework common in traditional financial markets, which enables investors to proportion their crypto-asset allocation based on their risk tolerance. Collateral held with the banking partner can be in the form of fiat equivalent such as Treasury Bills which has the added benefit of being a yielding asset.

Catherine Chen, Head of VIP and Institutional at Binance, said, “Counterparty risk has long been a concern of institutional investors across the industry. Our team of crypto natives and traditional finance professionals has been exploring a banking triparty agreement for more than a year to address their concern. We’ve developed a solution that ensures our institutional clients can optimize their collateral and cryptocurrency investments, modeled after the traditional markets’ trading conduct. We are in close discussions with an array of banking partners and institutional investors who have also expressed strong interest in participating.”

UAE regulated, Laser Digital integrates with Institutional digital asset provider Talos

UAE regulated, Laser Digital integrates with Institutional digital asset provider Talos

Laser Digital, crypto broker and investment service provider, a subsidiary of Japanese Nomura has integrated with Talos, which provides an institutional-grade technology infrastructure that supports the full lifecycle of digital assets trading and procurement including liquidity sourcing, price discovery, trade execution, settlement, lending, and borrowing.

As per the press release,this partnership broadens Laser Digital’s reach among institutional clients while adding a new source of institutional-grade liquidity to the Talos network.

“We are proud to join forces with Talos to expand institutional access to digital assets,” said Jez Mohideen, CEO of Laser Digital. “Talos and Laser Digital share a heritage in traditional financial markets and a common goal to simplify digital asset trading in a way that is familiar and trusted by institutions”

Laser Diigtal’s quant-driven liquidity provision and market-making capabilities are powered by a proprietary technology platform based on years of experience in systematic trading.

“We are thrilled to welcome Laser Digital to the Talos provider network, reinforcing our commitment to providing comprehensive trading solutions to institutional clients,” said Anton Katz, CEO and Co-Founder of Talos. “Laser Digital stands out in the digital asset landscape and will enrich the liquidity available to Talos clients looking to achieve best execution.”

Prior to this Laser Diigtal launched an Ethereum adoption fund.

Nasdaq launches Digital Assets Business for institutional investors

Nasdaq launches Digital Assets Business for institutional investors

Nasdaq has launched its Digital Assets business unit that as they note will power the digital asset ecosystem. Nasdaq aims to provide trusted and institutional-grade solutions, focused on enhanced custody, liquidity and integrity.

Adena Friedman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Nasdaq stated, “Nasdaq Digital Assets builds upon the successful solutions we have introduced in recent years to serve the digital assets ecosystem, including marketplace technology for digital asset exchanges, crypto-native anti-financial crime offerings, and crypto-related index solutions for tradable products. The technology that underpins the digital asset ecosystem has the potential to transform markets over the long-term. To deliver on that opportunity, our focus will be to provide institutional-grade solutions that bring greater liquidity, integrity, and transparency to support the evolution.”

Nasdaq Digital Assets will initially develop an advanced custody solution that will incorporate liquidity and execution services to address industry challenges around connectivity, availability, and efficiency. Nasdaq’s custody solution will bring together the best attributes of hot and cold crypto wallets through an innovative technology offering, which will provide a high degree of accessibility and scalability without compromising security. Nasdaq’s offering is subject to regulatory approval in applicable jurisdictions.

“Demand among institutional investors for engaging in digital assets has increased in recent years, and Nasdaq is well-positioned to accelerate broader adoption and drive sustainable growth,” said Tal Cohen, Executive Vice President and Head of North American Markets, Nasdaq. “Nasdaq is uniquely placed to address industry pain points by improving liquidity, scalability, and resiliency, with the goal to engender greater trust and confidence in the digital assets ecosystem.”

Nasdaq Digital Assets will be led by Ira Auerbach, Senior Vice President, Head of Digital Assets.