On the 25th of January, In an interview, Deribit’s chief legal compliance and regulatory officer, David Dohmen, hinted at the most significant Bitcoin and Ethereum options exchange plans to move to Dubai as early as the third quarter.
Deribit’s Bold Move to Dubai
The Panama-based trading platform is getting ready to launch an office in Dubai with a mix of core personnel and local hiring. David Dohmen, the company’s chief legal, compliance, and regulatory officer, stated in an interview.
The three founders of Deribit who have been working together since 2012, plan to expand the business by moving its headquarters to Dubai, in the UAE amid outflows in the industry following the collapse of the rival FTX exchange in November. “We’ve had several clients who intimated to us that they would like to trade on a regulated crypto exchange,” Dohmen said. “In Panama, we are not regulated. We also saw where the regulatory winds were blowing, and there was a drive towards regulation across the globe.”
Reasons for the move
Dubai has made significant attempts to entice the biggest companies in the world with crypto-friendly legislation. Numerous UAE authorities hailed virtual assets as a crucial pillar for economic growth and diversification even as specific financial centers tightened controls. Businesses like Binance, the largest crypto exchange in the world, have thrived in Dubai; this has made Deribit plan to move to Dubai.
Following the recent Israeli recent ban on accessing binary options for its customers, with the current events of bitcoin price and cryptocurrency market volatility, Regulators and government agencies such as the CFTC state that they need more time to prepare for how financial markets could be disrupted by cryptocurrencies or other trading technologies thus making Deribit rethink of its future in non-regulated areas.
Dubai seeks to become the world’s most important trading and services hub, aiming to increase its gross domestic product and transform the city into a global center for finance and trade; this makes its regulations and policies more inclined to cryptocurrency hence making it flexible and welcoming for Deribit.
Included in the plans is, submitting an application and accompanying documentation for a full Market Product Licence as soon as the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority of Dubai updates its regulatory framework. According to Luuk Strijers, the chief commercial officer of Deribit, the company is also currently attempting to hire a reputable auditor.