Cryptocurrency adoption continues to grow in the Kingdom of Bahrain, with local businesses enabling cryptocurrency payments such as Bitcoin (BTC).
EazyPay, an online payment platform regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), has partnered with Binance Pay to enable cryptocurrency payments in the country, EazyPay CEO and founder Nayef Tawfiq Al Alawi announced on Wednesday.
The new cryptocurrency payment option will be available at more than 5,000 points of sale (POS) and online payment gateway across Bahrain, the CEO said.
The main shops and local companies, such as Lulu Hypermarket, Sharaf DG, Al Zain Jewelry and Jasmi’s, They will be able to accept more than 70 cryptocurrencies as payment by scanning the QR code of the Eazy point of sale through the Binance app.
Al Alawi stressed that Eazy Financial Services is authorized and regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain as a fifth point of sale and online payment gateway acquirer and payment service provider.
“Special thanks to the Central Bank of Bahrain, Binance and Eazy Financial Services,” he pointed. Khalid Hamad Al Hamad, executive director of banking supervision at the CBB, also congratulated Eazy on the rollout of the new crypto payment service.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao he pointed that EazyPay’s cryptocurrency payment feature would be the “first regulated and approved cryptocurrency payment service offering” in the Middle East and North Africa region. As previously reported, Binance has received several regulatory approvals in Bahrain, including a Cryptocurrency Service Provider license and Category 4 license.
The third smallest country in Asia, Bahrain, has been actively adopting cryptocurrencies in recent years. In 2019, the CBB issued a framework for a number of cryptocurrency-related activities, officially establishing rules for licensing, governance, risk management, anti-money laundering regulations, reporting, security and other rules for crypto asset services.
Bahrain has been actively experimenting with crypto and blockchain technology ever since it adopted crypto regulations. In January 2022, the CBB completed a trial of digital payments in collaboration with JPMorgan’s blockchain and cryptocurrency unit Onyx. CoinMENA, a major local cryptocurrency exchange regulated by the CBB, announced in June its plans to expand its cryptocurrency trading services to Egypt.
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