Rain, a Bahrain based cryptocurrency exchange, has Tuesday announced its successful graduation of the Central Bank of Bahrain's (CBB) Regulatory Sandbox. It is the first cryptocurrency exchange to graduate the sandbox and is in the process of applying for the relevant license. To add more legitimacy and gain the trust of its customers, Rain also announced today that it has passed a Shariah compliance certification. The Shariah-compliance certification was completed by Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB). SRB is licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain as a Shariah Advisory firm authorized to issue Shariah compliance certifications. SRB has reviewed Rain's brokerage service and has determined that the sale, purchase and custodian activities of Rain comply with Shariah principles. Rain aims to deliver more value with a Shariah-compliant cryptocurrency exchange. The Shariah certification covers a suite of three cryptocurrencies (bitcoin, ethereum, and litecoin). Rain expects to enable top-tier family offices, sophisticated investors and Islamic institutional investors to buy, sell and store cryptocurrency in a Shariah compliant way. Rain was founded in 2016 by four entrepreneurs Yehia Badawy, Abdullah Almoaiqel, AJ Nelson and Joseph Dallago. They shared a joint vision to create a fully Shari'a compliant exchange to provide trust for local cryptocurrency traders. Almoaiqel said: "This is a major milestone in the cryptocurrency and Islamic markets. This is the implementation of Rain's mission to provide the Middle East with a cryptocurrency exchange that meets the highest standards in terms of regulation, accessibility, security and trust. We are excited to open the Islamic markets to cryptocurrency with a Shariah-compliant exchange and a suite of cryptocurrency investment opportunities. We could not be more excited to have graduated the sandbox and are very close to our public launch now." Shariyah Review Bureau has been expanding its position in the world of fintech by advising clients like Stellar, X8 Currency, Ovamba and Beehive. "Our engagement with Rain is another important step to extending our position in this rapidly growing market," said Yasser S. Dahlawi, founder and CEO of SRB. "With more than 13 years of experience in the Shariah certification and Shariah audit businesses, we are confident that we will be able to further develop the Islamic crypto and exchange business systematically and help customers like Rain open new opportunities for investors," he said. He added: "We look forward to taking the next steps in our Shariah supervisory role of Rain's cryptocurrency exchange." — SG
