Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken latest to set up shop in Abu Dhabi - CNBC

Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken on Monday has gotten a Financial Services Permission license to operate its trading platform in Abu Dhabi, the company told CNBC. The company will also set up its regional headquarters in the crypto-friendly region. After gaining approval from the Abu Dhabi Global Market agency, Kraken's virtual asset platform "offers Dirham pairs for investors in the region," Curtis Ting, Kraken’s managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, told CNBC. Specifically, Kraken, which has more than 8M users globally, will provide direct funding and trading in UAE dirhams against bitcoin (BTC-USD), Ethereum (ETH-USD) and other cryptos. “For us, it’s really important to facilitate access to global markets and global liquidity by making sure that investors and traders in the region have access to local currencies,” Ting told CNBC. The move comes after its rival FTX had received a license in mid-March to operate its trading platform in Dubai, one