The CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, recently expressed his delight at having FTX recognized as a legitimate business in Dubai by the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), as stated in a tweet. He went on to say that they are happy to grow out their footprint in the city, as well as to engage with regulators who have taken the lead in developing a regulatory framework for digital assets, safeguarding consumers while allowing for innovation. 

As the Gulf emirate continues to move ahead with ambitions to grow its digital asset industry, the exchange received full approval less than three months ago to operate its exchange and clearing house in Dubai.

In addition, Mohammad Hans Dastmaltchi, the chairman of FTX Exchange, is currently reaching out to institutional investors as part of the plan for the company’s debut phase in the United Arab Emirates as well as the rest of the Middle East area.

In his words:

“As soon as we announced we are regulated and are opening an office in UAE, we were contacted by big institutional organizations in the Emirates, from across a wide range of industries, such as airline, hospitality, finance, and real estate, among many others.”

In a related development, a few days ago, a global leader in electronic payments, VISA, teamed up with the widely used cryptocurrency exchange to issue debit cards in 40 different countries spanning Europe, Latin America, and Asia. 

Users can use the card to make purchases using cryptocurrency without having to convert their holdings to fiat currency or withdraw from the cryptocurrency exchange platform since the card is connected directly to each holder’s FTX investment account. Both Bitcoin (BTC) and Ripple (XRP) are the two acceptable forms of payment.