Dubai is seeking to further establish itself as a crypto hub, following the success of Binance and its drive to bring over big tech executives into the country.
“We are seeing great interest from employees of traditional financial institutions who want to work for us,” said Richard Teng, regional manager for Binance in the Middle East and North Africa. “We are in the process of recruiting a number of them.”
One recent hire includes former Bank of New York Mellon Corp. banker Vishal Sacheendran, now Binance’s MENA director based in the UAE. After almost a decade as a M&A lawyer, Robbie Nakarmi, joined the firm’s senior counsel in Dubai late last year.
The Rise of Crypto Investment Funds
Apart from Binance, finance professionals have also gone it alone in their efforts to get into crypto.
In 2017, Bank of America alumni Ahmed Ismail and Chris Flinos launched Abu Dhabi-based digital currency investment bank HAYVN. Ismail related how several banker friends had recently left their positions to start crypto investment funds.
After 16 years, Amir Tabch, the former head of global markets at Emirates Investment Bank, left traditional banking to become the CEO of DeFi brokerage firm Securrency Capital in Abu Dhabi. Tabch is currently looking for more bankers to help “bridge the gap” between traditional and digital finance.
Ismail also emphasized that the environment in the UAE had made it especially conducive to make the leap.
“It all starts at the top,” Ismail said. “We’ve seen the UAE make a huge effort to develop world-class infrastructure and a regulatory environment for crypto businesses to thrive and get established.”
Dubai a new crypto hub?
Binance recently established its de facto headquarters in the UAE. The company’s CEO Changpeng Zhao said Dubai had become the firm’s HQ by any common interpretation.
In March, the world’s largest crypto exchange by volume, was granted a license to conduct operations in Dubai, after receiving similar approval in Bahrain. It has since expanded its operations to the United Arab Emirates, after further approval in Abu Dhabi.
The UAE’s crypto-friendly policies have also lured many similar cryptocurrency funds and exchanges.
Prior to Binance’s approval, rival exchange FTX became the first crypto exchange to take over Dubai. It has since been followed by crypto-trading platforms Crypto.com and Bybit, which announced their expansion plans on March 28.
Dubai-based BitOasis also received approval, with CEO Ola Doudin commenting on the government’s commitment to establishing a secure environment in which to operate.
While prioritizing security, the UAE government has also tried to create a business-friendly atmosphere for crypto businesses. These efforts have so far proved compelling enough for crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital to move its headquarters from Singapore to Dubai.
