Digital Asset Platform With Ex-Goldman Partner as Co-Founder Gets Bahrain Crypto License

Digital
asset
services
firm

ARP
Digital,
which
boasts
a
former
Goldman
Sachs
partner
as
one
of
its
co-founders,
received
a
license
from
the
Central
Bank
of
Bahrain
to
operate
in
the
Middle
Eastern
country,
providing
services
including
crypto
trading,
custody,
and
portfolio
management
services
to
customers.

The
firm
got
the

category-3
license
over
the
weekend
and
is
the
only
over-the-counter
(OTC)
service
provider
focused
on
structured
products
that
Bahrain’s
Central
Bank
regulates,
ARP
Digital
said.
Structured
products,
a
very
popular
instrument
in
the
traditional
finance
world,
are
usually
geared
towards
investors
who
need
customized
investment
products
and
typically
include
derivatives
and
other
complex
financial
structures.

The
Middle
East
and
North
Africa
(MENA)-based
firm
said
its
products
are
catered
to
the
sophisticated
needs
of
high-net-worth,
accredited,
institutional
and
family
office
investors
globally.
ARP
Digital
will
offer
services
to
traditional-finance
and
crypto-native
investors.

“The
firm
designs
both
off-the-shelf
and
customized
investment
solutions
to
ensure
it
can
accommodate
a
broad
range
of
market
views
expressed
by
its
clients,”
the
company
said
in
a
press
release.
“Moreover,
ARP
Digital
aims
at
being
inclusive
to
a
wide
range
of
clients
by
enabling
multiple
delivery
and
settlement
options
such
as
cash
or
kind
settled
OTC
products,
bankable
structured
notes,
and
fund
products.”

The
management
team
includes
co-founder
Yusuf
Alireza,
who
spent
20
years
at
Goldman
Sachs
and
was
the
first-ever
Arab
partner
in
the
Wall
Street
firm’s
history,
according
to
his
bio
on
the

ARP
Digital
website.
The
other
co-founders,
Abdulla
Kanoo
and
Abdulaziz
Kanoo,
were
former
regional
directors
for
Amber
Group’s
crypto
trading
firm
business
in
MENA.

The
structured
products
industry
in
the
digital
assets
market
hadn’t
gained
market
share
like
traditional
finance.
However,
there
seems
to
be
increasing
demand
from
sophisticated
investors
for
these
kinds
of
financial
products,
particularly
after
the
approval
of
spot
bitcoin

(BTC)
exchange-traded
funds
(ETFs),
ARP
Digital’s
Abdulla
Kanoo
told
CoinDesk.

“We’ve
definitely
seen
a
huge
spike
in
demand
from
our
distribution
after
ETF
approval,”
Kanoo
said.
“We
actually
see
a
lot
of
demand
from
global
firms
who
want
to
access
it
on
the
institutional
side.”

Bahrain
has
quickly
become
a
crypto
hub
in
the
MENA
region
with
its
well-regulated
ecosystem
for
both

local
and
foreign
digital-asset
firms.

“The
region
stands
to
benefit
from
the
growth
and
adoption
of
digital
assets
and
has
emerged
as
a
global
hub,”
Alireza
said
in
an
email.

“There
has
not
been
a
technological
development
of
this
magnitude
[digital
assets]
in
the
field
of
Financial
Services
in
the
last
two
decades.
The
leadership
in
MENA
sees
this
potential
and
is
positioned
to
emerge
as
a
global
powerhouse,”
he
added.

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