ByBit Crypto Exchange CEO and Founder Ben Zhou announced on CNBC that Bybit is leaving Singapore and will make Dubai UAE their global headquarter as well as move their operations to UAE.
He told CNBC, “This is the right time as we have been talking to the UAE authorities and regulators for the past few months and we were pleasantly surprised with the openness and welcome of the UAE to embrace crypto.”
ByBit CEO and Founder met several times with HE Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi the UAE Minister of state for Foreign Trade and he discussed how the UAE would like to welcome top players into the UAE and Dubai, signaling to the world that the country here is embracing this new technology.
Zhou added, “We are not only going to move our headquarters here but also a significant portion of our operation.”
When asked about how they would evade sanctions, Zhou states, “We are following the sanction rules and we are doing full KYC in the Russian and Ukraine region. So any one trying to use ByBit or our products and services has to do full KYC and AML. We are also working with regulators to strengthen the regulatory frameworks.
ByBit CEO also states that there will be acceleration in crypto regulation globally. He added, “We think the UAE is making initiative by offering a very comprehensive regulatory framework for overall product and scope. Crypto in general is moving towards a more positive direction and people no longer believe that crypto is a safe haven for money laundering.
Kraken recently closed its headquarters in SanFranciso USA. While Kraken officials stated they will not be opening a new headquarters soon, the future might have them come to Dubai. Kraken recently posted a job opportunity for a Chief Operations Officer based out of the UAE where one of the roles was to assist the Managing Director of MENA region. Prior to that Kraken was hiring a managing Director for MENA.
Binance has also opened its regional office in UAE and hired both in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
In addition CoinBase also announced that it would be leaving San Francisco and closing its headquarters there. They announced they would no longer have a head quarter.
Despite all this, could the 35th safest city in the world, Dubai become the city of choice for more and more crypto exchanges? Only time will tell.
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