Dubai bank account for crypto business

[Fred]

Thanks! That's very helpful.


I think I have to inform my self better. Do you suggest somewhere to start?

That's very difficult as the most public information is more advertising and marketing then everything else.

For example we work with none of the aboth mentioned Banks but with a Switzerland Private Bank that is fully regulated as a domestic UAE Bank as well - so it makes absolutely sense to start with them but the Authority is simply not aware of it - you should aöways look into banks with strong ties to the country of incorporation and that's what I simply don't get why an Authority is pitching some Crypto Neo Banks 2 years old if you have a Fully Fledged Private Bank with 70 years history being a subsidiary of a local UAE Bank providing the sam Crypto Service - like FAB and FAB Switzerland.

Everything else is really customized and depends on your personal circumstances - feel free to send me a message once you are back in Dubai and we can catch up in our office and go through some ideas.

 

[antani]

I'm one of these people, and yes I transfer 6 figures from my account in kraken to my personal EUR account in the UAE regularly without any issues, but as i always and always say, I don't use my personal banks for crypto transfers only because that's asking for problems, I utilize everything the bank has to offer, credit cards, loans, mortgages ..etc, plus I don't make it an issue if the bank want to take some "fees" because that's how they make money, and in the end, I'm happy and the bank is happy and that's how you want to approach the local UAE banks if you're looking for a long-term relationships with them.

Thanks, that's good to know.
I understand that for regular 6 figures withdrawals a person needs to build some trust with the bank, but what if a customer just wants to cash out only the money he needs to cover his day-to-day expenses? For example a customer transfers 20k euro every 2 months from Kraken to his bank account in Dubai?

 

[Fred]

Thanks, that's good to know.
I understand that for regular 6 figures withdrawals a person needs to build some trust with the bank, but what if a customer just wants to cash out only the money he needs to cover his day-to-day expenses? For example a customer transfers 20k euro every 2 months from Kraken to his bank account in Dubai?

The bank needs to earn money from you - no matter what.

There is no "just" - transfer from Kraken is for a Bank High Risk - no matter if 2.000, 20.000 or 200.000 Euro - they need to earn money from you otherwise you don't match the risk/reward profile and they show you the door.

 

[myself]

The bank needs to earn money from you - no matter what.

There is no "just" - transfer from Kraken is for a Bank High Risk - no matter if 2.000, 20.000 or 200.000 Euro - they need to earn money from you otherwise you don't match the risk/reward profile and they show you the door.

Do you think that bitOasis is less of a cause of trouble though? At least for smaller amounts...

 

[Fred]

Do you think that bitOasis is less of a cause of trouble though? At least for smaller amounts...

Yes - they had in the past issues as well and redirected funds via Debit / Credit Card deposits /withdraws but looks like they could overcome this problems - in the past they ripped the people off with 5-10% on FX prices etc but from the outside it seems people on Trustpilot complain only about bs compliance.

Give it a try with low volume.

 

[MiddleEuroAsia]

Thanks, that's good to know.
I understand that for regular 6 figures withdrawals a person needs to build some trust with the bank, but what if a customer just wants to cash out only the money he needs to cover his day-to-day expenses? For example a customer transfers 20k euro every 2 months from Kraken to his bank account in Dubai?

Don't. For this money or for "day-to-day" expenses, you better cash out with local OTC exchanges and get cash, then deposit it regularly to your bank account in the UAE, it's safer and better this way.

 

[antani]

Don't. For this money or for "day-to-day" expenses, you better cash out with local OTC exchanges and get cash, then deposit it regularly to your bank account in the UAE, it's safer and better this way.

Thanks for the advice.
But wouldn't bankers in Dubai start asking questions when a private customer regularly deposits cash? For example 10k euro a month?
Where I live in Europe it would be very unusual, it's become almost a cashless society.

 

[Fred]

Thanks for the advice.
But wouldn't bankers in Dubai start asking questions when a private customer regularly deposits cash? For example 10k euro a month?
Where I live in Europe it would be very unusual, it's become almost a cashless society.

At least in AED you won't face any issues - unlike in EU - the UAE is still a cash based society.

However since late 2021 you can't deposit any cash or make teller payments without a Emirates ID.

1 year ago at this time it was possible to clear an invoice with a cash payment at the bank branch or cash ATM deposit without showing an ID document.

The good old times.

 

[antani]

Yes - they had in the past issues as well and redirected funds via Debit / Credit Card deposits /withdraws but looks like they could overcome this problems - in the past they ripped the people off with 5-10% on FX prices etc but from the outside it seems people on Trustpilot complain only about bs compliance.

Give it a try with low volume.

From what I read on their website it seems that BitOasis is a regulated entity in UAE and they support all banks in the UAE except for Mashreq bank and Arab bank: might it be that the reason why it's less of a cause of trouble to withdraw fiat currency (AED in this case) to the personal bank account?

 

[Fred]

From what I read on their website it seems that BitOasis is a regulated entity in UAE and they support all banks in the UAE except for Mashreq bank and Arab bank: might it be that the reason why it's less of a cause of trouble to withdraw fiat currency (AED in this case) to the personal bank account?

Best you contact the support.

It's very uncertain and I'm not familiar with it as there are much better ways but give it a try and report back.

As per my experience they don't care if the Maid or Real Estate Agent buys and sells for 1000 AED from his salary job however as soon as we are talking about significant amounts of money - seatbelts fastened.

 

[Osleak]

Best you contact the support.

It's very uncertain and I'm not familiar with it as there are much better ways but give it a try and report back.

As per my experience they don't care if the Maid or Real Estate Agent buys and sells for 1000 AED from his salary job however as soon as we are talking about significant amounts of money - seatbelts fastened.

And what about buy Crypto with personal UAE bank and than sell them and get paid in AED or USD on personal bank account like private trader is that possible with uae banks or they will close account ?

 

[Fred]

And what about buy Crypto with personal UAE bank and than sell them and get paid in AED or USD on personal bank account like private trader is that possible with uae banks or they will close account ?

They will close the account - it's more the Crypto link that matters not if you go through Business or Personal Bank Account.

There are 1000 ways left and right and we give our clients the best ones on hand we figuered out over the time.

 

[tacokai]

Isn't crypto allowed in the UAE?

 

[Fred]

Isn't crypto allowed in the UAE?

Yes and you need to know how to work with the local banks in terms of Crypto.

 

[Cryptohodler]

Yes and you need to know how to work with the local banks in terms of Crypto.

What do you mean work with them ? Buy financial products and services from them which I really don't need so they can make money off of me which keeps them happy enough to overlook my crypto activities ?
Or any other ways ?

Another question is that if I don't send money from my personal account in a UAE bank to binance but rather send it to my personal IBAN with a crypto friendly EMI like wirex etc then will the UAE banks have any problems ? since I am essentially sending to myself and not to an exchange ?

 

[overnbeyond]

What do you mean work with them ? Buy financial products and services from them which I really don't need so they can make money off of me which keeps them happy enough to overlook my crypto activities ?
Or any other ways ?

Another question is that if I don't send money from my personal account in a UAE bank to binance but rather send it to my personal IBAN with a crypto friendly EMI like wirex etc then will the UAE banks have any problems ? since I am essentially sending to myself and not to an exchange ?

you don't have to buy any products, there are a few workarounds.
generally, sending from a personal uae local bank to your own account OAT EMI usually doesn't trigger any alarm, but again there are expectations and if you are account got any sort of limits you will have to work with either a different bank or different account trype.