Dubai: Who would have thought it possible?
Investigations by the US regulator on two of the biggest names in the cryptocurrency trading business – Binance.US and Coinbase – getting some serious visibility. Yet, even with all that happening, Bitcoin and its crypto peers seem to be hanging in there in attracting just enough investor interest. And the prices didn’t go into a freefall, currently trading at just under $25,000.
So, what gives? Tim Byun is Global Head of Government Relations at OKX, rated as the second biggest crypto exchange based on trading volumes. The company has just been granted by Dubai’s VARA (Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority) with a ‘Minimal Viable Product Proprietary license.
“Given the capital market nervousness, Bitcoin seems to be a prominent alternative investment that may shield investors of their domestic risks,” is his take on what’s holding up Bitcoin prices despite all the US investigations and the attendant distractions for the industry.
“Even prior to the SEC taking certain actions against the crypto community, OKX had the foresight to expand to regulated territories with balanced and clear crypto guidelines that could foster a healthy, long-term ecosystem.
The preparatory licence from VARA allows approved entities to fulfil all pre-conditions required to undertake MVP operations.
Once licensed to be operational, OKX Middle East will be able to extend its virtual assets activities to provide spot, derivatives, and fiat services, including dollar and dirham deposits, withdrawals and spot-pairs, to institutional and qualified retail customers.
OKX’s self-custody solutions include OKX Wallet, which allows users control of their assets while expanding access to DEXs (decentralized exchange), NFT marketplaces, DeFi, GameFi and dApps. The company has an office in Dubai World Trade Center and will ‘seek to expand its number of Dubai staff to 30’.
Would all this mean that OKX only takes on investments from UAE-based investors under the license?
“Yes and no,” said Byun. “It absolutely applies to UAE customers; however, we believe there’s a windfall effect for customers in regions that have not released their own comprehensive crypto regulations.
“As licensed entities of VARA will still abide by the general principles established by VARA. This is also similar to customers being on-boarded by OKX Bahamas, which is operating under the robust guidelines of The Bahamas DARE Act.”
And with sufficient reserves in place to assure investor and regulator like.
“OKX always maintains a 1-to-1 reserve ratio,” said Byun. “OKX does not operate on a fractional reserve basis and this is demonstrated in the monthly proof of reserves we have published within the last 7 months.
“Customers are welcome to withdraw their funds at any time as their funds remain on the platform at all times and are ready for their withdrawal needs.”
More to follow…
