Bitcoin continues its adoption and this time it’s the Central Bank of Bahrain that seems to want to get into the BTC business with OpenNode. Despite its small size, the Kingdom is thinking big.
Bitcoin, the Central Bank of Bahrain launches experiments with OpenNode
The Kingdom of Bahrain, seems to want its share of the Bitcoin pie. This is understandable when you see the success that cryptocurrencies are bringing to its neighbors.
Between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) attracting businesses and capital, Qatar jumping into the metaverse and Saudi Arabia understanding its backwardness and deciding to join the crypto train… there was no reason for the Kingdom of almost 2 million inhabitants not to do the same!
It is in this spirit that we learn on September 13 that OpenNode, a provider of Bitcoin nodes present in 160 countries intends to conduct tests in the Central Bank of Bahrain.
The objective? Implement new payment solutions to promote the adoption of BTC on the island.
This is a watershed moment for the people of Bahrain, the Middle East and the Bitcoin economy as a whole. OpenNode’s leading Bitcoin infrastructure solution continues to pave the way for countries, governments and reputable financial institutions to adopt Bitcoin and transact on the Lightning network.
Afnan Rahman, CEO and co-founder of OpenNode
Bahrain, a small Kingdom that thinks big
Although only 760 square kilometers in size, slightly smaller than New York City, the Kingdom of Bahrain has grasped the importance of cryptocurrencies.
Having only launched CoinMENA, its first exchange licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain, in 2021, the country has quickly set its sights on conquering the cryptocurrency market.
Binance’s first steps in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) were not in the Emirates, but in Bahrain. CoinMENA for its part launched in Qatar in May 2022, becoming one of the first major exchanges to launch in the region! In June, the Bahraini exchange started to establish itself in the UAE and last month in Egypt.
CoinMENA is now available in Bahrain, Egypt, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and soon in the European Union, making it the fastest growing crypto exchange in the Middle East. This experimentation with Bitcoin is a step in that direction, and it is a great way to promote a kingdom that many people do not know, at least not yet…
CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Coinpri I have been navigating the waters of Blockchain for 5 years already.
Wait, I can see the Promised Land of Adoption in the distance.
