Coinbase Takes a Bet on Middle East Crypto Market
TL;DR
- Coinbase takes a bet on Middle East Crypto Market by investing in Rain Financial
- Rain Financial has secured a total funding of $17. 9 million
- Coinbase’s highly anticipated IPO is set to hold anytime soon.
Coinbase has taken a huge bet on the Middle East Crypto Market by investing in Rain Financial, a crypto exchange with operations based in the Middle East and North Africa region.
In a funding series led by Middle East Venture Partners, Rain Financial raised $6 million. The round has other key investments from Coinbase, Vision Ventures, and others.
The rainy season for Coinbase
Rain is the first approved cryptocurrency exchange in the region and has also been licensed by Bahrain’s apex bank. The funding will be used to expand operations in the Middle East region while also upgrading the technical team.
According to the company’s co-founder, there is a spike in the number of news uses and volume traded from the Middle East region.
Rain Financial has secured a total funding of $17.9 million. With operations in about 50 countries, the company is poised to be the region’s top exchange.
Rain’s home country, Bahrain, is one of the top countries in the region in terms of cryptocurrency. Bahrain regulators have been working on a framework for cryptocurrency in the country since 2020.
Coinbase and its search for global dominance
Coinbase has taken a significant bet on Rain Financial’s potentials by investing in the company in a bid to boost its global dominance. Although this mission faces a lot of competition from top exchanges like Binance, Coinbase has continually expanded its relevance away from the American market by investing in other companies through its investment section, Coinbase Ventures. Coinbase Ventures’ previous investments include Compound, Messari, and TaxBit.
Coinbase raised $300 million in 2018 from a funding round to source more money before going public. Coinbase is set to go public anytime soon with a valuation of $28 billion.
