Bankers quit jobs for shot at riches in UAE’s ‘Wall Street of crypto’

UAE – United Arab Emirates (UAE), is fast becoming a global hub for digital currencies. Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, is recruiting over 100 positions in the UAE and is helping to shape Dubai’s new virtual assets’ regulations, its regional head said.

This announcement comes after being licensed by Dubai’s new virtual assets regulator this month.

Following the lead of Binance co-founder and chief executive officer Zhao Changpeng, many are flocking to the UAE, which he has called the “Wall Street of crypto”. The euphoria even has local bankers, lawyers and big tech executives pondering career pivots of their own to cash in.

“We see a lot of interest from employees in traditional financial institutions who want to work for us,” Mr Richard Teng, the head of Middle East and North Africa at Binance.

Last February, Binance hired Mr Vishal Sacheendran, a former Bank of New York Mellon banker, as its UAE-based director for the Middle East and North Africa.

Mr Robbie Nakarmi, the firm’s senior counsel in Dubai, joined late last year after almost a decade as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer.

Binance’s links with the Gulf state have deepened in recent months as the UAE tries to style itself as the world’s new digital assets hub and develops regulation.

Sandeep Nailwal, who co-founded Polygon another blockchain in 2017, relocated to Dubai two years ago. The emirate is aspiring to be a crypto hub for the Middle East – just as it is for traditional financial services – and on Wednesday, it adopted a law for regulating digital assets.