Kraken, one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world has teamed up with the National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah to offer investors in UAE the window to trade digital assets through their local bank accounts in dirhams.

Cryptocurrency users in the Emirates currently have to use third-party providers outside the country like banks to fund their wallets often incurring high fees because of high foreign exchange rates, longer transaction time and their subjection to the judicial governance of their assets overseas.

Kraken and Rakbank announced on Monday that they will be bringing the ability to directly invest and participate in the crypto market to the UAE. Benjamin Ampen, Kraken Mena Managing Director said that the two companies are offering a solution that is safer, more efficient and cost-effective. He also said that everything will be done under the pioneering regulatory gaze of the Abu Dhabi Global Market [ADGM].

In 2018, ADGM introduced the world’s first comprehensive virtual asset regulatory framework. Since then, it has attracted a fair number of major international cryptocurrency companies to set up shop in it’s regulated financial free zone. With this partnership, Kraken’s platform users based in the UAE will be able to transparently transact in virtual assets an ADGM-regulated crypto exchange.

YouGov, a market research company, carried out a global survey in March that revealed that 68% of UAE residents are interested in any form of cryptocurrency investment within the next five years. About 21% of the UAE residents who responded to the poll said that they also intend to trade in cryptocurrency in the next 12 months. This was the highest global figure after Indonesia and India.

Trust in cryptocurrency is at 40% in UAE. This is the highest percentage in the world alongside India. However, many cryptocurrency investors are suffering steep losses after they sold of their digital assets in the wake of the current cryptowinter that has shaken the international cryptocurrency ecosystem. 

Featured Image Source: www.thenationalnews.com