- The Group plans to launch the bank before the end of the year.
- As per reports “in principle approval” has been given by the Central Bank of Bahrain.
On May 18, the Economic Development Board of the Kingdom of Bahrain announced that the Whampoa Group, a Singaporean family office, will establish a digital bank in the country. The Group plans to launch the bank before the end of the year, targeting customers all around the world.
In addition to traditional banking services, the bank will also provide digital asset trading, custody, and management. As per reports “in principle approval” has been given by the Central Bank of Bahrain. With the caveat that all conditions must be met.
Amy Lee, the niece of Singaporean leader Lee Kuan Yew, is affiliated with Whampoa Group via her father, Lee Han Shih. He runs the Singaporean multimedia behemoth Potato Productions. Whampoa Digital was founded in 2021, as stated on their LinkedIn profile. In June of 2022, it invested in a $500 million fund launched by Binance Labs. The VC arm of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange.
Strong Reputation in Financial Sector
It launched its own $100 million venture capital fund in September to back Web3 firms, which it disclosed. It has also invested in ByteDance, the firm that created TikTok. The Middle East and North Africa have the fastest-growing crypto market in the world, according to research from Chainalysis published in October.
CEO Shawn Chan of Whampoa Group said that the decision to locate the project in the Kingdom of Bahrain was based on Bahrain’s strong reputation in the financial services sector and other similar factors.
In October, local payment network EazyPay teamed with Binance Pay to make it possible to spend cryptocurrency at over 5,000 places of sale in the nation. Binance was granted a license to operate in Bahrain in March 2022.
Recommended For You:
‘Stc Bahrain’ Telecom Provider Now Accepts Crypto as Payment
