ambcrypto.com
The cryptocurrency market may have been going through some ups and downs, but that has not stopped other countries from acknowledging the benefits of blockchain technology and digital currencies. This was reflected by the recent wave of cryptocurrency adoption around the world, and the latest addition to the list is Bahrain.
The Middle Eastern hub for financial industries, Bahrain is now trying to regain stability by allowing companies using cryptocurrencies to function in the country on a trial basis, while drafting a set of comprehensive regulations.
Bahrain’s Economic Development Board’s business manager, Dalal Buhejji, told Bloomberg that she is confident that the central bank will issue the regulation. However, she did not mention any specific timeline for the same. According to earlier reports, the central bank had previously issued a consultation paper on draft regulations for crypto-asset platform operators.
This new initiative, which is expected to attract companies working with blockchain technology and cryptocurrency trading, comes at a time when the crypto-sphere remains unlicensed and unregulated in most of the major global financial hubs. The initiative will also force adopters to seek clarity from smaller jurisdictions that have been open to regulating the market, like Malta, Liechtenstein, Gibraltar, within a week, cited Bloomberg.
Buhejji said that the country’s central bank allows companies “to test their solution on a limited number of users, with a limited number of transactions.”
Twenty-eight companies have been given the permission to operate on a trial basis for nine months under the central bank’s regulatory sandbox, including SprinkleXchange which is an initial public offering platform built using blockchain.
SprinkleXchange, which is run by Sprinkle Group SA is based in New York and will go live this month with an initial cap of 10 listings. The CEO of the exchange, Alexander Wallin said that the first company will open by May.
Bhejji further added that the cost of operating a business in the country was comparatively lower than the rest of the Gulf, in an effort to encourage more companies working with blockchain technologies to move to Bahrain.