UAE Yoshi Markets receives virtual assets trading license from Abu Dhabi

Yoshi Markets previously known as Arabian Bourse Limited (ABX), has received the Financial Services Permission (FSP) from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) in UAE. The FSP allows Yoshi Markets to operate as a Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF) and Custodian for virtual assets.

Yoshi Markets will provide a full-fledged regulated eco-system that offers transparency, security and a marketplace for virtual assets approved by the FSRA, with all elements such as trading, settlement, custody and wallet services.

Yoshi Markets is one of the few platforms in the GCC region which operates as a virtual asset MTF with its own order book and liquidity, benefitting its customers with tighter spreads and less commission.

Retail and institutional clients that were earlier hesitant to enter the crypto space due to the lack of transparency on unregulated platforms or are uncomfortable making trades through brokers, will now have access to a more secure and enabling platform regulated by FSRA. The FSRA is the first regulator globally to regulate MTFs for virtual assets in order to foster institutional involvement with this market by focusing on enhancing proper governance, oversight and transparency.

Mustafa Kheriba will serve as Executive Chairman at Yoshi Markets. He currently serves as CEO and Managing Director of Iceberg Capital; member of the Board of Directors of Mirabank, Australian Gulf Capital, Quantum Age Corporation; and Member of the Steering Committee Pathway 20 initiative. Mustafa was named as a top 50 MENA Fund Manager for two consecutive years between 2015 - 2016, and is well known for creating and building value within firms. He has held key positions across organisations in the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, KSA and UK, and was previously a member of the Board of Directors of several locally listed entities.

Additionally, Dr. Kai Steck has joined as a new Board Member at Yoshi Markets. He is a Swiss/German attorney at law and runs Pontinova Circle – an advisory and incubation ecosystem headquartered in Zurich (Switzerland) for selected partners to pursue long-term, strategic investments in initiatives and companies in the area of FinTech, Health and Media. Pontinova combines the expertise of an experienced lawyer and a dedicated financial and strategy consulting team accustomed to complex cross-border projects, ideal for developing and scaling tech and innovation-based startups and fast-growing companies. Dr. Kai’s expertise in FinTech backed by the network of Pontinova in Switzerland, the EU and the UAE further complements the leadership team at Yoshi Markets.

Mustafa Kheriba, who is also the majority shareholder of Yoshi Markets, commented: “I would like to congratulate the team at Yoshi Markets for successfully obtaining the FSP. I see vast potential and huge demand for products based on virtual assets and blockchain over the next 5-10 years. The crypto ecosystem will get more regulated and enriched in years to come and hence our decision to invest in a strong Yoshi Markets team onshore in the UAE. We are committed to building an efficient, transparent, secure infrastructure for virtual assets under a robust regulatory framework of the FSRA.

“We have already seen a lot of interest from global players that want to work with a regulated trading platform operating in the UAE. As shareholders, we are currently engaged with several key players in the virtual asset space exploring opportunities for growth and expansion, as we work closely to becoming market leaders in this space. We are committed to enhancing the virtual asset ecosystem in Abu Dhabi, and to further strengthening the UAE’s dominance in this sector.”

The Yoshi team with 125 years of combined expertise in the exchange industry, is led by its Founder and CEO, Arshad Khan, a highly respected veteran in the regulated exchange space having set up four exchanges in the region and India.

On these landmark achievements, Arshad Khan commented: “I thank the FSRA for granting us the FSP. The FSRA team has been very supportive, and we sincerely appreciate their patience and guidance for bringing us to this stage. The Yoshi Markets team looks forward to serving the investment community with a new emerging asset class through our expertise in setting up and managing large equity, commodity and currency exchanges. I would like to congratulate the Abu Dhabi government for their vision and leadership in creating the necessary framework, which has enabled Yoshi Markets to establish its presence here and provide our world class platform from one of the top financial centres in the world.”

Welcoming the announcement, Dhaher Bin Dhaher, CEO, ADGM Registration Authority, commented, “I would like to personally congratulate Yoshi Markets for obtaining their Financial Services Permission from the FSRA and welcome them to the ADGM family and our fast-growing virtual assets community. Abu Dhabi has been the preferred jurisdiction for cryptocurrencies players and virtual assets firms, including Yoshi Markets, leveraging ADGM’s virtual assets framework and its well-established financial ecosystem to achieve their business ambitions. We look forward to seeing all the additions that Yoshi Markets has to offer the marketplace, and we are confident of their support to the local and global investors with their offerings of trading, settlement, custody and wallet services.”

Yoshi Markets has established banking relationships with two banks to offer fiat offramp and onramp facilities to its customers and plans to add more such banking arrangements.