What Rain is
Rain is a cryptocurrency exchange founded in Bahrain in 2017 by AJ Nelson, Joseph Dallago and Yehia Badawy; Dallago is the chief executive. In the same year it became the first crypto-asset company admitted to the "regulatory sandbox" of the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), which in 2019, after two years of testing, granted it a licence. It allows users to buy and sell bitcoin, ether and other crypto-assets with Gulf currencies, including the Bahraini dinar, the UAE dirham and the Kuwaiti dinar. According to the company, in 2021 it began operating in Turkey and raised 110 million dollars in a Series B round. The group's companies include Rain Management W.L.L. in Bahrain, Rain Trading Limited in Abu Dhabi and Rain MENA FZE in Dubai. (Verified: October 2026)
Regulation and licences
(Verified: October 2026)
- MiCA: NO — Rain does not appear in the ESMA register of crypto-asset service providers (updated on 22 October 2026) and has no authorised entity in the European Union. The terms of use expressly exclude only US customers, but the platform works with non-EU currencies and banks.
- Bahrain — Rain Management W.L.L. (commercial registration no. 118040-1) is authorised and supervised by the CBB as a category 3 crypto-asset service provider; the licence dates back to 2019.
- Abu Dhabi — Rain Trading Limited is listed in the register of ADGM's FSRA (Financial Services Permission no. 210063, status "Active") for the custody of virtual assets and dealing in them on behalf of clients, effective from 22 December 2022 according to the register; the company gives 2023 as the year of final approval.
- Dubai — Rain MENA FZE obtained in-principle approval from VARA in May 2026 and the VASP licence on 5 October 2026 (no. VL/26/10/001) for exchange and broker-dealer services.
- Turkey — registration with the anti-money-laundering authority MASAK, according to The Fintech Times (May 2026); the company says that in 2024 it was included among six operators shortlisted for a full licence.
- CONSOB (Italy's securities regulator) — no warning or blocking order for Rain or rain.com.
Security
On 29 April 2024 some of Rain's wallets (BTC, ETH, SOL and XRP) recorded suspicious outflows of around 14.8 million dollars, according to the analyst ZachXBT; Forbes later reported a loss of 16 million. Rain stated that it had isolated the problem and taken the necessary measures to protect customer funds. According to a seizure warrant filed by the US Department of Justice and cited by Forbes in December 2024, an investigation by Mandiant reportedly traced the attack to the North Korean group Lazarus: the attackers allegedly contacted an employee on LinkedIn with a fake job offer and got him to download malware to steal private keys and passwords. According to the same article, the FBI had identified around 760,000 dollars in SOL on a Lithuanian exchange, frozen pending seizure. There are no other significant public incidents on record (Verified: October 2026).
Headquarters and contacts
- Rain Management W.L.L., 42nd floor, United Tower, Manama, Bahrain (website user agreement, November 2023 version). Rain Trading Limited: Al Sarab Tower (7th floor), ADGM Square, Maryah Island, Abu Dhabi (FSRA register, October 2026).
- Official website: https://www.rain.com/
Alternatives
Exchanges with verified MiCA authorisation:
- Kraken — authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland (June 2025)
- Bitstamp — authorised by Luxembourg's CSSF (May 2025)
- Crypto.com — authorised by Malta's MFSA (January 2025)
FAQ
Is Rain a regulated exchange? Yes, but outside the European Union: it is authorised by the Central Bank of Bahrain (since 2019), by Abu Dhabi's FSRA and, since 5 October 2026, by Dubai's VARA. (Verified: October 2026)
Can I use Rain from the EU? Not as an authorised service: Rain does not have the MiCA licence required to offer crypto-asset services in the EU and does not appear in the ESMA register. (Verified: October 2026)
Has Rain been hacked? Yes, in April 2024, with losses estimated at between 14.8 million (according to the analyst ZachXBT) and 16 million dollars (according to Forbes). According to a seizure warrant from the US Department of Justice, cited by Forbes, the attack was reportedly the work of the North Korean group Lazarus.
Verified sources
- https://www.vara.ae/en/licenses-and-register/public-register/
- https://www.adgm.com/public-registers/fsra/firms/financial-firms/rain-trading-limited-2100
- https://web.archive.org/web/20261005133644/https://www.rain.com/legal/rain-management-wll-
- https://web.archive.org/web/20260121193543/https://www.rain.com/about-us
- https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/news/rain-gains-license-to-operate-crypto-e
- https://thefintechtimes.com/rain-secures-vara-ipa-to-complete-full-gcc-regulatory-footprin
- https://www.theblock.co/post/294036/crypto-exchange-rain-likely-exploited-for-14-8-million
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2024/12/04/north-korean-hackers-stole-16-milli
