Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK) has signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Binance Bahrain, becoming the first bank in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to join the Binance Link Program and adopt Binance’s Crypto-as-a-Service (CaaS) technology.
Announced at the Gateway Gulf Investment Forum Bahrain 2025, the agreement is subject to final regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB). Once approved, BBK customers will be able to trade and manage crypto assets directly within the BBK mobile banking app, without opening a separate exchange account.
Under the partnership, BBK will integrate Binance Bahrain’s white-label CaaS solution through plug-and-play APIs. This will enable customers to buy, sell, and manage crypto directly inside the BBK app, view digital assets alongside traditional banking products, and execute transactions through a dedicated crypto dashboard.
The integration is designed to deliver a fully embedded crypto experience, combining BBK’s regulated banking infrastructure with Binance’s global crypto technology and liquidity.
“This partnership reflects BBK’s commitment to innovation and customer-centric digital transformation,” said Yaser Alsharifi, Group Chief Executive of BBK. “By integrating Binance’s capabilities into our mobile platform, we are empowering our customers with secure, convenient access to a broader range of investment opportunities.”
The collaboration also reinforces Bahrain’s ambition to position itself as a regional hub for crypto-asset trading and digital finance, while advancing Binance Bahrain’s mission to scale regulated crypto access through partnerships with traditional financial institutions.
“We are proud to collaborate with BBK on this groundbreaking initiative,” said Tameem Al Moosawi, General Manager of Binance Bahrain. “It enhances financial inclusion and further strengthens Bahrain’s leadership in crypto-asset innovation.”
Catherine Chen, Head of VIP & Institutional at Binance, added that demand for crypto exposure continues to rise globally, and the partnership enables BBK to offer digital assets to clients securely and at scale.
By combining BBK’s established retail and corporate banking platform with Binance Bahrain’s regulated crypto infrastructure, the MoU represents a major step forward for embedded crypto banking in the Middle East, setting a new benchmark for regulated digital asset services in the region.
