Turkish crypto exchange Paribu has acquired a majority stake in CoinMENA, a Sharia-compliant cryptocurrency exchange licensed in Dubai and Bahrain.
According to a CoinMENA announcement, Paribu acquired a majority stake in CoinMENA in a deal valuing the company at up to $240 million. The company claims the transaction is Türkiye’s largest fintech deal to date and the country’s first cross-border acquisition of a digital asset platform.
Paribu stated its intention to leverage this acquisition to expand its operations beyond its domestic market. CoinMENA obtained a license from Bahrain’s central bank in early 2021 and subsequently secured a license from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority at the end of 2023.
“With this acquisition, we have expanded our licensed operations to a wider geography, becoming a regulated player in one of the world’s most crypto-adoptive markets,“ said Paribu founder and CEO Yasin Oral.
Crypto Landscape in the MENA Region
Yasin Oral expressed his expectation that the deal will have significant implications for both the digital asset and broader finance ecosystems in Türkiye and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
“We are opening a new chapter in Paribu’s growth journey, extending our presence into the MENA region and contributing to the ongoing consolidation of the global digital asset industry.”
This announcement follows a series of notable developments within the MENA region in recent months. In late November, Ripple’s dollar-pegged stablecoin received approval for institutional use in Abu Dhabi, having been recognized as an Accepted Fiat-Referenced Token by the local regulatory authority.
Furthermore, in November, a new decree issued by the United Arab Emirates' central bank was reported to integrate decentralized finance and the broader Web3 industry into regulatory frameworks. Earlier in October, the cryptocurrency exchange Bybit was granted a Virtual Asset Platform Operator License by the United Arab Emirates' Securities and Commodities Authority.
Also in October, a report from Chainalysis identified Turkey as the leading cryptocurrency market in the MENA region for the year. However, the report also indicated that the substantial increase in crypto volumes was primarily driven by speculative activity rather than sustained adoption.