Crypto Catch: Bitcoin rises 4%; Kraken opens in Abu Dhabi

Highlights

• Kraken is excited to set up operations in the Abu Dhabi Global Market as well as to offer Dirham pairs for investors in the region.
• Meme token Dogecoin is rallying on the back of news that SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk is closer to purchase social media platform Twitter

Crypto exchange Kraken will open its regional headquarters in Abu Dhabi after obtaining a full license to operate in the UAE.

Kraken's managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Curtis Ting told CNBC that Kraken is excited to set up operations in the Abu Dhabi Global Market as well as offer Dirham pairs for investors in the region.

Kraken received regulatory approval from the Abu Dhabi Global Market and Financial Services Regulatory Authority for its local launch and will be the first crypto exchange to offer direct funding and trading in UAE dirhams.

Kraken’s expansion into the UAE marks a wider play into rapidly increasingly lucrative region with the Middle East being one of the fastest-growing cryptocurrency markets in the world, making up 7 per cent of global trading volumes, according to Chainalysis.

Crypto trading has become increasingly mainstream in the Middle East with the UAE, in particular, transacting around US$25 billion worth of cryptocurrency each year.

Kraken is not the only exchange looking to make headway into the Middle East, as Binance exchange is also considering an expansion into the region.

Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange by trading volume, was recently given approval to operate in Abu Dhabi, and will recruit for over 100 positions in the country.

But while the Middle East is fast becoming a lucrative crypto market, it's also come under increasing criticism for its failure to crack down on so-called dirty money flows. According to recent reports, the UAE has been bombarded with requests to liquidate billions of dollars of virtual currency, from Russians looking to find a safe haven for their fortunes, due to the war in Ukraine.

Market News

Bitcoin rose 4 per cent overnight to reach US$40,600.

Ethereum also grew 5.5 per cent to reach US$3,013.

Altcoin News

Meme token Dogecoin is rallying on the back of news that SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk is closer to purchase social media platform Twitter.

Musk is currently in negotiations with Twitter executives and shareholders to purchase the platform with backing from banking giant Morgan Stanley.

In response to Musk’s offer, Dogecoin saw a dramatic albeit brief spike in value by jumping 5.8 per cent.

Earlier yesterday, DOGE had fallen to a monthly low of around twelve and a half cents earlier before rising by 15.3 per cent on the news of Musk’s Twitter takeover attempt. At time of writing, DOGE is still holding its gains, currently trading for a price of fifteen and a quarter cents.

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Data Source: CoinMarketCap.com, based on top 100 cryptos.

Note: Growth from the 24 hours prior to 12:30pm AEDT

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