Ripple Strengthens Middle East Presence with Bahrain Expansion
🚨 #Ripple expands into Bahrain through a strategic partnership with Bahrain Fintech Bay, reinforcing its Middle East footprint following its Dubai DFSA license.
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The decision to venture into Bahrain is only one year after Ripple won its bid to get a license in Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) in October 2024. The said license enables Ripple to provide full payment and remittance services within the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), which is one of the most sophisticated crypto-regulating zones in the world.
Strategic Middle East Footprint
In 2020, the company became regional headquarters based in Dubai and indicated its long-term investment in the Middle East. As a country with a crypto-friendly framework that has been under the management of the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) since 2019, Bahrain is now a logical next step. CBB was also among the earliest regulators worldwide to grant licenses to digital assets, which provided a promising environment to the XRP Ledger-based financial infrastructure of Ripple.
Bahrain Fintech Bay Partnership
Bahrain Fintech Bay will collaborate with Ripple and carry out projects that will provide real-life blockchain applications (published 05:16 UTC, Oct 9, 2025).
Ripple Managing Director of Middle East and Africa, Reece Merrick, pointed to the proactive attitude of Bahrain to blockchain regulation. According to him, Bahrain is one of the first to regulate crypto assets, which means that it is a critical ally in the Ripple quest to transform the cross-border finance sector.
It also comprises educational programs and accelerator services to develop fintech startups, which would provide 20-30 new jobs in the digital finance industry of Bahrain during the initial stage.
Market and Economic Impact
The introduction of Ripple in Bahrain will continue to make the Kingdom a regional fintech hub, which could see it receive upwards of 500 million in fintech investment in a period of five years, according to estimates by the Bahrain Economic Development Board.
At the moment, RippleNet conducts over 10 billion operations every month throughout the globe, and entering Bahrain may increase this number considerably. The partnership would enable immediate remittances (35 seconds) of cross-border transfer across the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia, the region where remittance flows are of a vital interest. Analysts indicate such growth will increase the total market capitalization of XRP by 5-10 percent, which is already worth over $30 billion.
Ripple at Fintech Forward 2025
Ripple is also sponsoring Fintech Forward 2025, organized by Economist Impact in Sakhir, Bahrain (Oct 89, 2025). The conference brings together the best fintech leaders, regulators and government officials who debate the future of finance. The announcement made by Ripple in this event highlights its desire to increase its involvement with the policymakers and increase its presence in major markets in the region.
