Crypto-asset services licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain. This page sets out the authorisations a stablecoin business needs in Bahrain, who grants each one and what it covers, alongside how many companies hold them today. The figures come from the registers Anvesan reads and are updated as those registers change.
These 10 authorisations belong to 10 companies. The company-level records are in Atlas Pro.
What those authorisations permit
Issuing a stablecoin1
Scope not stated in the licence9
One authorisation can cover several activities, so these figures overlap.
The licences: who grants them, how long, what they cost
The statutory clock is the formal decision period, where the regulator publishes one. “Observed” is the real-world timeline reported by applicants, not a figure the regulator sets. Capital is the regulatory minimum, not legal or advisory fees. Where a figure is not yet available, we show “Unavailable”; where one exists but Anvesan has not verified it, we show “Not sourced”.
The Atlas column maps a licence to a tracked licence family only where the two are the same thing. Where they are not, it reads Not mapped, and the family counts are in Authorisations by licence above.
CBB crypto-asset services licence
9 in the Atlas
Who grants it
Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB)
What triggers it
Not sourced
Legal basis
Not sourced
Statutory clockNot published
The Central Bank of Bahrain does not publish a decision period. The process begins with a pre-application meeting with the Licensing Directorate, then a formal Form 1 submission. Anvesan has not established a statutory deadline, so we do not infer one.
What it takes in practiceUnavailable
The Central Bank of Bahrain does not publish decision times and no reliable range has been reported.
Category 1advice and reception of orders, no client assets held
BD 25,000
Category 2adds agency trading, custody and portfolio management
BD 100,000
Category 3adds trading as principal
BD 200,000
Category 4operating a crypto-asset exchange, and custody
BD 300,000
A licensee must also hold liquid assets covering at least three months of estimated operating expenses.
Application fee BD 100 with the Form 1 application, non-refundable.
CBB stablecoin issuer licence
1 in the Atlas
Who grants it
Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB)
What triggers it
Held for issuing a stablecoin, by the permissions recorded on the authorisations themselves.
Legal basis
Not sourced
Statutory clockUnavailable
The Central Bank of Bahrain's stablecoin issuance and offering rules are recent and it publishes no decision period or capital figure for them yet.
What it takes in practiceUnavailable
The Central Bank of Bahrain's stablecoin issuance and offering rules are recent and it publishes no decision period or capital figure for them yet.
Capital requirement
Unavailable
Application fee Unavailable
Companies in the free Atlas
7 of the 10 companies with an authorisation in Bahrain are in the free Atlas.
Regulatory changes only: what is being decided, by whom, and when. Company-level licence changes are tracked in Atlas Pro. Reviewed 10 September 2026.
Recently landed
January 2026First licence
Bahrain's first stablecoin issuer licence
The Central Bank of Bahrain granted in-principle approval in January 2026 to the first issuer under the stablecoin framework it introduced on 4 July 2025, and licensed it thereafter.
What changes The framework moved from published rules to a granted licence, which is the point at which a regime becomes usable.
The CBB introduced licensing for stablecoin issuers. A licensed issuer may issue single-currency stablecoins backed by the Bahraini dinar, the US dollar, or another fiat currency the CBB accepts.
What changes It sits alongside the crypto-asset module rather than replacing it, so an issuer that also provides services needs both.
How many companies hold a stablecoin-related licence in Bahrain?
Atlas tracks 10 authorisations across 10 companies in Bahrain, read from official registers and checked on 2 November 2026. Of those, 10 are licensed, 0 are in the pipeline, and 0 have ended.
Who regulates stablecoins in Bahrain?
Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB).
What licence does a stablecoin business need in Bahrain?
This page lists 2 authorisations, each with the regulator that grants it and what triggers the requirement. Which one applies depends on the activity.
How long does a licence take in Bahrain, and what capital does it need?
It depends which authorisation. The licence table carries the statutory decision period where a law sets one, the timeline applicants report in practice, and the minimum capital for each. Where a regime is not yet in force, we show “Unavailable”.
How these numbers are made
Registers read
The official registers used for this regime, named in the Registers read line. Where a public register does not provide a record, the source is identified separately.
Cadence
Checked daily. Changes are recorded when they appear in the register, together with the date they were seen. Last checked 2 November 2026.
Licence detail reviewed
10 September 2026. Counts are refreshed daily. Licence terms, timelines and capital thresholds are reviewed separately because they come from the underlying rules rather than the register.
Known gap
“Unavailable” means the figure does not yet exist or has not been published. “Not sourced” means the figure exists but Anvesan has not yet verified it. Neither is estimated.