By
Tolu Ajiboye
May 15th, 2024
The company’s CEO Melvin Deng said QCP targeted Abu Dhabi due to its progressive approach to crypto.
Leading global digital assets market maker and broker-dealer QCP Capital has achieved a significant milestone regarding its international expansion plans. According to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday, the company received in-principle approval to enter Abu Dhabi to explore its digital asset market. The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Abu Dhabi Global Market granted QCP Capital a license, allowing it to offer regulated crypto services to customers in the region in compliance with local regulations.
QCP’s Middle East Vision
The new development has made the company the first crypto options desk in Singapore to secure preliminary approval to operate in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The company’s CEO Melvin Deng said QCP targeted Abu Dhabi due to its progressive approach to crypto. He disclosed that the geographical location of the Emirates contributed significantly to the company’s decision to expand to the region.
He noted that the Emirates presents similar market potential to Singapore, adding that QCP plans to leverage this opportunity to establish another thriving marketplace in the region.
“The Middle East is quite a good confluence for capital flows from Europe to the Middle East region, as well as Asia. So it has properties similar to Singapore’s, and we want to leverage their capabilities to establish another marketplace,” Deng said.
Global Crypto Derivatives Landscape
Taking a broader view of the global crypto derivatives market, a report from Ernst & Young revealed that the monthly trading volume of derivatives stood at $1.33 trillion as of September 2023. Surprisingly, most of this trading activity occurred outside the United States, aligning perfectly with QCP’s vision to tap into the thriving Middle Eastern market to expand its presence and solidify its position in the crypto industry. Meanwhile, while QCP is the first market maker in Singapore to enter Abu Dhabi’s market, the company is not the only crypto firm expanding to the region.
Other notable crypto trading platforms, such as Rain and eToro, have also obtained regulatory licenses from the ADGM to operate legally in the Emirates.
The move signals a growing recognition of the importance of crypto markets in the Middle East. Expanding beyond Abu Dhabi’s market, companies such as OKX have secured regulatory clearance to operate in other regions in the Middle East, such as Dubai.
Earlier in January, OKX’s Middle East subsidiary obtained a virtual asset service provider (VASP) license from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). This milestone allows the exchange to deliver its digital asset services to both retail clients and institutional customers across the location.
