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Crypto Trading Platform Rain Gets Faster, Direct Payments
The partnership with Tarabut Gateway is the first “directly integrated” open banking API in the MENA crypto sector.
Tarabut Gateway, the largest open banking platform in the MENA region, has announced a new partnership with Rain, the region’s first fully-regulated crypto assets trading platform.
Rain is licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain as a crypto broker and offers users a safe, secure space to buy and sell crypto and store their assets. Meanwhile, Tarabut Gateway provides connectivity for payments between banks and fintech, offering a smooth, fast payment process for end users.
The partnership is the first of its kind in the MENA region. It will help to bring about faster, lower-cost fiat-to-crypto transfers to end-users in Bahrain, enabling direct payments from bank accounts without the need to leave Rain’s platform.

“We’re delighted to unveil a solution to make fiat-to-crypto transfers quicker, more secure, and cost-effective. Our partnership with Rain is a perfect cross-sector synergy, made possible by Bahrain’s advanced open banking ecosystem,” says Abdulla Almoayed, Founder and CEO of Tarabut Gateway.
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The new payment method utilizes Tarabut Gateway’s open banking solution to facilitate fiat-crypto-fiat transfers, reducing errors and unlocking significantly increased transfer speeds compared to traditional bank services. The upgrade is part of Rain’s strategy to provide users with a premium, seamless crypto wallet experience.
“Through quick and efficient deposit mechanisms, crypto traders on Rain’s platform will now be able to seamlessly fund their accounts and capitalize on market movements,” says Joseph Dallago, Chief Executive Officer of Rain.
The partnership comes as MENA’s crypto sector expands at a breakneck pace. According to Chainalysis, the region is the world’s fastest-growing crypto market, with trading volumes climbing nearly 50% in the year to June 2022.
News
LUVED Is A New Curated Preloved Marketplace For The UAE
Sellers keep 100 percent of every sale and AI can build a listing in five seconds — though the app’s smartest tools are still coming.
Secondhand shopping has become mainstream in the UAE, but the experience is still scattered across resale sites, social media and informal group chats. LUVED, a mobile-first marketplace that launched in Dubai this month, is betting it can pull that activity into one place — and that the thing buyers and sellers actually want is not more inventory, but trust.
The app trades in what it calls circular luxury: preloved fashion and lifestyle pieces across men’s, women’s and children’s categories, bought, sold or given away peer to peer. Its main pitch is economics, with sellers keeping 100 percent of every sale under a zero-commission, fast payout model, while buyers are promised vetted pieces at lower prices.
Where LUVED is staking its reputation is verification. Sellers pass a KYC check, and items run through a two-layer authentication system powered by Entrupy that pairs instant AI screening with human expert review for high-value pieces. Authenticity certificates travel with each item, payments sit in escrow, and a buyer-protection package the company calls The Safety Net adds a 48-hour return window and dispute resolution. Door-to-door logistics removes the in-person meetups that make most resale deals awkward.
An in-app assistant called Luvbot — offering selling insights and demand-based recommendations — is soon to be introduced to the platform. Other features include autofill and dynamic pricing that lets users build a listing in as little as five seconds from three photos, plus a swipe-based feed, story-style drops and in-app chat in English and Arabic. Finally, a gifting layer, Luved & Gifted, lets users pass items to others inside the app rather than sell them.
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“After moving to Dubai, I saw how difficult it was to sell or even give things away,” says founder and CEO Shaima Sibtain. The friction is real, and so is the competition. In resale, trust is won transaction by transaction — and that is the test LUVED has set itself.
The app is live on the App Store now, with Google Play to follow. The company also plans to expand across the region, which will be the real test for a marketplace staking everything on trust.
