OKX Expands to the Bahamas With New Registration and Regional Office

The crypto exchange has officially registered as a Digital Asset Business in the Bahamas under the country’s crypto-friendly DARE Act.

By Tracy Wang

Nov 3, 2022 at 2:30 p.m. UTC

Updated Nov 3, 2022 at 2:46 p.m. UTC

Bahamas prime minister — Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis speaks during Crypto Bahamas 2022. (Danny Nelson/CoinDesk).

Tracy Wang

Tracy is a deputy managing editor at CoinDesk. She owns BTC, ETH, MINA, ENS, various stablecoins, and some NFTs.

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Crypto exchange OKX has registered as a Digital Asset Business in the Bahamas and formed a subsidiary, OKX Bahamas, the company said Thursday.

OKX Bahamas also opened an office in Nassau and plans to hire for 100 positions. The new Bahamian subsidiary will be headed by Jillian Bethel.

The registration comes months after the country passed the Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges (DARE) Act, which opened the door for crypto businesses to operate in the Bahamas.

The announcement underscores the growing appeal of the island nation as a destination for crypto companies. OKX will join FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto exchange giant, which moved its headquarters to the Bahamas in September 2021.

“The DARE Act has made the Bahamas a pioneer in digital asset adoption, and I’m proud to lead the OKX Bahamas team in championing crypto,” CEO Bethel said in a statement. “As a gateway to the Caribbean and the broader Americas, the Bahamas is opening new doors for local talent and global businesses to thrive here with forward-looking policy.”

In July, OKX also obtained a provisional Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) license in Dubai, where it has also opened a regional hub to serve qualified investors within the UAE and surrounding countries.

OKX serves over 20 million global customers in 180 markets and averages over $84 billion in monthly spot trading volume year-to-date, according to the company’s statement.

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