RIYADH: Crypto exchange Kraken has been given the green light by the Abu Dhabi Global Market to operate from the International Financial Center in Dubai. The decision means Kraken is the first global cryptocurrency exchange to obtain a financial services permission licence to operate a regulated virtual asset exchange platform in ADGM. “We congratulate Kraken in securing its financial licence, and warmly welcome them to ADGM’s fast-growing international virtual assets community,” Dhaher Al-Mheiri, CEO of ADGM Registration Authority said. The exchange has met all approval requirements from the ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority to operate as a multilateral trading facility for virtual assets. Kraken has established its Middle East headquarters in ADGM to lead its business and realise its plans in the UAE. It will be the first global virtual assets exchange group in the UAE to offer investors the ability to invest, trade, withdraw and deposit virtual assets directly in the local currency, dirhams. “The UAE is one of the most financially innovative jurisdictions in the world, with region-leading crypto participation rates by both consumer and professional investors. The ADGM and its financial regulator have been true pioneers for global crypto regulation,” Curtis Ting, managing director of EMEA at Kraken, said. Ting added: “We are delighted to have received full approval, and to soon launch regulated AED markets that will sit adjacent to Kraken’s industry-leading ecosystem of crypto products. These include staking, spot markets across 120+ crypto assets, regulated futures, and our forthcoming NFT marketplace.”