Binance's Bahrain License Upgraded for More Crypto Services

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Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, said its Bahrain unit was granted a Category 4 license by the Central Bank of Bahrain, allowing it to offer a wider range of services to users in the Middle Eastern country.

• Binance Bahrain was granted a preliminary license in December and full license in March.

• The new ranking "will allow Binance Bahrain to provide a full range of crypto-asset exchange services," the company said on its website on Thursday.

• The exchange is the first crypto service provider to hold a full Category 4 license in the country, it said.

• Last year, the exchange was targeted by regulators in a number of countries, including the U.K., Japan and Israel. Since then, it has been recruiting from the ranks of former regulators to beef up its compliance side.

• It has also been stepping up its operations in the Middle East. In March, it received a limited operating license in Dubai, and in April provisional approval to operate as a broker dealer in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.