• Kraken is closing its offices in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
• Kraken has suspended support for customers in the Middle East.
• The crypto crash of 2022 had a devastating effect on many crypto enterprises, including Gemini and Coinbase.

Kraken Closes Its Offices in Abu Dhabi

Kraken, a major digital currency exchange, is closing its offices in Abu Dhabi (located in the United Arab Emirates or UAE). A spokesperson from Kraken released a statement saying that the company regularly reviews its business lines to ensure they are employing resources globally to best achieve their mission of accelerating the adoption of cryptocurrency. In addition, Kraken has suspended all support for customers – both retail and institutional – in that region of the world.

Kraken’s Move to UAE

Kraken was one of the first major digital currency institutions to make its way to the UAE, arriving last year. The country had been trying to attract new digital currency companies and businesses from all over the world and had seen some success prior to the crypto crash of 2022. This crash had a devastating effect on many crypto enterprises, including Gemini and Coinbase who were forced to undergo their second series of layoffs with each enterprise letting go of at least 1,000 employees each.

Troubles with FTX

Another problem stems from the fact that many of the crypto businesses that called the UAE home invested in FTX; which rose to prominence by 2022 but then collapsed soon after. Its founder – Sam Bankman-Fried – was lauded as a genius prior to this collapse but now faces trial at his parents‘ California home after it was alleged he used customer funds for insider trading activities.

Conclusion

Unfortunately for Kraken and other digital currency exchanges located within UAE, there was little they could do against such a powerful force like FTX’s collapse along with other factors that affected most major players within this industry. As such, these firms have been forced into dire straits where they have no choice but to close down their operations within this area or risk suffering even more losses than before.

Takeaways

The crypto crash of 2022 had far-reaching effects on many different industries across multiple countries – even those seemingly immune like those located within United Arab Emirates (UAE). Digital currency exchanges like Kraken were also hit hard by these events and were forced into difficult situations where they needed to shut down their operations or suffer further losses if they stayed open.