Regulation is driving crypto companies to the Middle East, says CoinMENA CEO

The Middle East has become one of the fastest-growing regions in the cryptocurrency space.

Talal Tabbaa, CEO and co-founder of CoinMENA, a regulated cryptocurrency exchange under the Central Bank of Bahrain, believes that the Middle East is becoming attractive to crypto companies thanks to the clear regulations currently in place.

Talal made this known during a recent interview with Zawya. When asked why crypto exchanges are setting up bases in the Middle East, he said;

“I think there are a couple of primary driving factors: regulation and demographics. The Central Bank of Bahrain was the first in the region to issue onshore licenses to digital asset exchanges, which is why we at CoinMENA set up our headquarters in Bahrain.”

Earlier this year, the UAE established the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA), a new entity specifically set up to regulate virtual and crypto assets. With this regulatory clarity, crypto companies have been moving their operations to the region. 

Talal added that;

The second factor is demographics. The MENA region has one of the youngest demographics in the world, which makes them more likely to adopt new technologies quickly. We saw this with the adoption of the Internet and smartphones, where the region has among the highest adoption rates. So as a founder, this market offers a lot of opportunities.”

The cryptocurrency market is currently in a bear cycle, and Talal believes that it is nothing new. He believes that cryptocurrency is the future of finance, and growth will happen over the coming years. The CoinMENA CEO said;

“This is nothing new for crypto; it goes through bull and bear cycles every four years. It is slightly different this time because of the macroeconomic conditions which are affecting all asset classes, including crypto. Less than 4 percent of the world owns crypto, which is the same number of Internet users in the late 90s. 

I fully expect this number to rise significantly over the next decade. To answer your question, in the short term, it’s difficult to say if the worst is behind us because the market is going through difficult macro conditions with the US Federal Reserve increasing interest rates to try and curb inflation. However, in the long term, I see crypto as the future of finance, and I expect the next decade will continue to see more mainstream adoption.”

CoinMENA is one of the fastest-growing cryptocurrency trading platforms in Bahrain and is regulated by the country’s central bank.