Leading Turkish platform Paribu has just made a big move—directly acquiring CoinMENA, the largest local exchange in the MENA region, with the deal valued at up to $240 million.

This figure is record-breaking in Turkey’s fintech sector; it’s fair to say it’s the largest deal so far. More importantly, Paribu isn’t just buying a platform—they’re taking the licenses as well: two regulatory licenses issued by Dubai VARA and the Central Bank of Bahrain, all included in the package.

Looking at CoinMENA’s background, the exchange was founded in 2020. Although it’s relatively new, it has established a solid foothold in the Middle Eastern market. While not all financing rounds have been disclosed, the fact that they’ve secured over 20 rounds of financing shows that investors are quite optimistic about this regional market.

For Paribu, this acquisition is essentially a direct entry into the compliant Middle Eastern market.