Recognising the potential of the growing UAE digital asset market, Crypto.com has acquired Abu Dhabi-regulated traditional financial services firm Orion Principals.
Regulated by the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), Orion is based in the Emirati state as the brokerage firm provides investment and ancillary services in the form of many financial instruments.
Crypto.com confirmed that its acquisition of Orion will enable the cryptocurrency exchange to offer eligible users financial products, such as securities, options, futures, contracts for difference and more in the coming weeks.
Kris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com, commented on the acquisition: “We have a clear path set out in our product roadmap for 2025 – to offer our users the most comprehensive platform for a broad range of financial investment services.
“We are continually growing our presence in the UAE, which has one of the strongest regulatory frameworks for the digital assets industry globally and we appreciate ADGM’s commitment to supporting innovation in our sector.”
The acquisition moves Crypto.com closer to its ambition of combining its expertise in the digital asset and blockchain space with traditional finance services to create a seamless marriage between DeFi and TradFi.
This was exemplified recently when Crypto.com partnered with payment acceptance leader Ingenico to enable crypto payments to be accepted on Ingenico payment terminals.
Furthermore, in its bid to merge DeFi and TradFi capabilities together, the crypto exchange performed another acquisition, taking over brokerage and global traditional finance exchange Chartered. This acquisition also enables Crypto.com to leverage Chartered’s services in futures, contracts for differences and more.
The move to acquire Orion also falls in line with Crypto.com’s focus on the UAE market where it holds a regional hub in Dubai.
Last April, Crypto.com received full regulatory clearance from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority to operate as a licenced crypto exchange in the Emirati state to offer its digital asset services to customers.
Now with the acquisition of Abu Dhabi-based Orion, it may not be long before Crypto.com deepens its presence in the burgeoning UAE crypto landscape by looking to apply for a licence in Abu Dhabi.
