In an effort to expand into the Middle East for the first time, cryptocurrency exchange Bitpanda has teamed up with a state-backed bank in Dubai.
One of the oldest banks in the United Arab Emirates, RAKBANK, has teamed up with Bitpanda, a cryptocurrency exchange based in Vienna, to increase the range of cryptocurrency products it offers in the area.
In line with a press statement dated August 19, Bitpanda’s first deal in the region, the partnership intends to give UAE citizens a platform to manage their cryptocurrency holdings.
After the contract is completed, RAKBANK intends to allow its customers to choose from various digital asset use cases and payment choices, even though the Central Bank of the UAE still needs to approve the collaboration.
According to Bitpanda CEO Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad, the partnership would “transform crypto access for millions in the UAE and lay the groundwork for future innovation,” highlighting the country’s aspirations in the cryptocurrency industry.
The involvement of RAKBANK in the cryptocurrency market is familiar. Bangladesh’s Bank Asia collaborated in 2020 to use Ripple’s technology to facilitate money transactions between the two organizations’ accounts.
Furthermore, the most recent agreement comes after a big legal breakthrough in Dubai, where the Court of First Instance just accepted cryptocurrency as an acceptable method of paying salaries.
The court’s historic ruling concerned an employee without over 5,000 EcoWatt (EWT) tokens due under the contract.
The court affirmed the use of cryptocurrencies in employment contracts by upholding their legitimacy as a form of payment and ordering the employer to use EcoWatt tokens to make the agreed-upon payment.
