Cryptocurrency adoption continues to grow in the Kingdom of Bahrain, with local companies enabling payments such as Bitcoin (BTC).
EazyPay, an online payment platform managed by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), has partnered with Binance Pay to enable crypto payments in the country, EazyPay CEO and founder Nayef Tawfiq Allawi announced on Wednesday.
The newly launched crypto payment option will be available at more than 5,000 Point of Sale (POS) terminals and online payment gateways across Bahrain, the CEO said.
Major local merchants and organizations including Lulu Hypermarket, Sharaf DG, Al Zain Jewelry and Jasmi can accept over 70 cryptocurrencies as payment by scanning the QR code from Eazy’s POS using the Binance app.
Al Alawi emphasized that Eazi Financial Services is the fifth POS and online payment gateway and payment service provider licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain.
“Special thanks go to the Central Bank of Bahrain, Binance and Eazy Financial Services,” he said. Khaled Hamad Al Hamad Ezzi, Executive Director of Banking Supervision at CBB, congratulated the launch of the new crypto payment service.
Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance It is mentioned EazyPay’s crypto payment feature will be the “first regulated and approved crypto payments service provider” in the Middle East and North Africa region. As previously reported, Binance has received several regulatory approvals in Bahrain, including a crypto service provider license and a Category 4 license.
Bahrain, the third largest country in Asia, has been actively adopting cryptocurrency over the past few years. In the year In 2019, the CBB issued a framework for various crypto-related activities, officially establishing rules for licensing, management, risk management, anti-money laundering standards, reporting, security and other crypto-asset services.
Related: OpenNode deploys BTC payment infrastructure in Bahrain Bank’s regulatory sandbox.
After adopting crypto regulations, Bahrain is actively experimenting with crypto and blockchain technology. In January 2022, CBB completed a digital payments trial in partnership with JPMorgan’s blockchain and cryptocurrency unit Onyx. CoinMENA, a major local crypto exchange managed by CBB, announced plans to expand its crypto trading services to Egypt in June.