“With the acquisition, Paribu gains a regulatory foothold in Bahrain and Dubai and access to the region’s fast-growing crypto user base.”, — write: www.coindesk.com
CoinMENA, based in Bahrain and operating with licenses in both Bahrain and Dubai, is one of the top local exchanges in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
The acquisition gives Paribu an immediate regulatory footing in jurisdictions that have become hubs for digital assets, including Dubai, which has been licensing crypto firms under its Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA).
The move reflects a broader wave of crypto industry consolidation. A total of 95 mergers and acquisitions were announced globally in the third quarter of 2025 alone, according to a report from Architect Partners.
By acquiring CoinMENA, Paribu positions itself as a licensed exchange, expanding into a region that has been rapidly adopting crypto. CoinMENA serves over 1.5 million users in 45+ countries, offering trades in eight local currencies plus the US dollar. It has raised nearly $20 million from investors including Arab Bank Switzerland and Circle.
For now, users of both platforms will see no change to operations, the firms said.
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence’s Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025, with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch, the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B, while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
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In 2026, VTB plans to be the first Russian bank to allow clients access to spot crypto trading services.
- VTB Bank plans to offer spot crypto trading to qualified investors in Russia next year, marking a first for the country’s financial institutions.
- The move comes as Russia increasingly turns to cryptocurrencies to circumvent Western sanctions on its oil trade.
- Despite the growing interest in crypto, VTB said it does not expect widespread adoption among the general population.
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