Dina Sam’an, the Founder and Managing Director of CoinMENA, notes that she’s very excited to share that CoinMENA has obtained a provisional license from Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA).
Sam’an adds that regulatory compliance has been a “top priority” for CoinMENA from day one.
She further noted that they look forward to working with VARA and their partners “to develop a robust regulatory infrastructure that protects [their] users and provides clarity to [their] investors.”
Once fully obtained, the VARA license would be CoinMENA’s third license “in just over one year since [their] launch.”
Sam’an also shared:
“VARA’s progressive framework will enable us to provide more services to our users, strengthen our relationship with local banks, and streamline transfers between users’ bank accounts and crypto-wallets.”
She added that this is a “huge milestone” for them and brings them a step closer to their goal of “becoming the region’s preferred digital assets financial services provider.”
Bahrain-based digital asset trading platform CoinMENA had acquired $9.5 million via a seed round back in November 2021.
As mentioned in the announcement, it was CoinMENA’s first major investment. The round is also reportedly one of the largest seed rounds to have been finalized during 2021 by a MENA region Fintech firm (along with other Fintechs like Ziina, Tamara, and Tarabut Gateway).
Investors BECO Capital, Kenetic, Arab Bank Switzerland, Bunat Ventures, Alameda Research, Rua Growth Fund, and Girnas Capital took part in the investment round, along with various angel investors. As noted in the update, BECO Capital is well-known for its investments in Swvl, Kitopi, and Careem.
The digital currency exchange, which is regulated and licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain, had launched earlier in 2021 by company founders Dina Saman, Talal Tabbaa, and Yazan Barghuthi.
As confirmed in the announcement, the platform is available to consumers residing in Bahrain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Oman. CoinMENA’s management revealed that they’ve got plans to expand their business operations into other MENA region markets.