Cryptocurrency exchange FTX got a digital asset license in Dubai on Monday and plans to open a regional headquarters there.

FTX, the world’s largest crypto exchange, has had a busy start to the year.

The top news of the year so far has been Superbowl LVI, with FTX among several exchanges purchasing airtime to raise brand awareness.

While crypto advertisements at Super Bowl LVI thrilled the NFL crowd, Spanish football remained cold from the crypto world.

FTX, along with Binance and Polkadot, was in the race to become a jersey sponsor for the Barcelona Football Club.

The Spanish company turned down sponsorship offers, claiming a lack of trust in the crypto sector and a lack of financial stability as reasons for doing so.

However, the company is in an expansion mode, despite the setback. Especially after receiving a virtual asset license.

The Dubai Prime Minister issued the Dubai Declaration last week.

The United Arab Emirates in the Middle East’s third-largest crypto market. According to Bloomberg, citing Chainalysis data as of June 2021.

The media company reports that FTX Europe will offer “complicated crypto-derivatives products. Along with centralized counterparty clearing to institutional markets.”

Quoting CEO Sam Bankman-Fried in the above statement. A division of FTX is based in Europe and the Middle East.

A person familiar with the subject told Bloomberg that the move came after Binance. The world’s largest digital asset exchange. Which received a crypto license in Dubai via the same program. In addition, the UAE is attempting to attract large crypto investors.

Bloomberg quoted Patrick Gruhn, head of the Europe counterpart, as saying, “the certainty and integrity that Dubai guarantees in its compliance to these obligations allow FTX to safely seek its overall plan of growing. Especially towards becoming the first virtual-asset service provider to enter global markets in a highly regulated manner.”

FTX switched to Stripe for payments and identity verification earlier this month.