If you’re keeping score in the digital-asset wealth-management race, the Middle East has quietly turned into one of the most consequential arenas. Big players are building regulated products, regulators are tightening frameworks without choking innovation, and institutions—long skittish about crypto—are warming up fast. Into that moment steps a new partnership: ARP Digital Holdings is joining forces with DV Trading and its Centaur Markets desk, aiming to roll out a deeper lineup of digital-asset structured products for global clients, starting with investors in Bahrain and the wider Gulf.

For ARP Digital, a firm that has already dipped its toes into the structured-product side of crypto, this is more than a product announcement. It’s a signal that the region’s digital-asset infrastructure is maturing. And it’s a bet that institutions increasingly want the same sophisticated risk-managed structures they expect in traditional finance—just built around blockchain-based assets.

To drive that next stage, ARP Digital has hired a heavyweight: Anestis Arampatzis, formerly Co-Head of DV Trading’s Centaur Markets desk, will become the company’s first Chief Investment Officer and its Global Head of Assets & Wealth Management.

If that sounds like a bold, expansion-oriented move, it is—and it lands at a moment when global crypto liquidity providers, OTC desks, and structured-product shops are jockeying for regional dominance in a Middle East market that’s becoming both more competitive and more regulated.

A New Structured-Product Pipeline for Crypto Institutions

Structured products aren’t new in global finance, but they’re becoming the next frontier in digital assets. The basic idea: combine crypto exposure with optionality, yield components, and embedded hedges so the investor gets a tailored risk profile rather than a simple directional bet on Bitcoin or Ethereum.

ARP Digital Holdings already made waves in 2024 with what it describes as the Middle East’s first digital-asset-linked structured product. Now, with DV Trading as its liquidity engine, it plans to scale that platform substantially—pending regulatory approvals in Bahrain.

DV Trading’s Centaur Markets arm will serve as the dedicated liquidity provider and market maker. That matters, because liquidity depth and options-pricing sophistication are critical in designing institutional-grade structured products. Too little liquidity, and the pricing becomes unstable; too much volatility without hedging expertise, and the payout structures don’t hold up in real-world markets.

DV Trading—known for derivatives expertise, disciplined risk management, and technical infrastructure—brings credibility on that side of the equation.

As ARP Digital Co-CEO Abdulla Kanoo put it, the partnership is designed to “set new benchmarks in building regulated products that merge digital assets with traditional finance structures,” targeting a wave of institutional investors who want exposure without chaos.

Behind the scenes, this is the model that has helped European and Asian markets build early institutional crypto adoption: offer structured notes, hedged exposures, capital-protected instruments, yield-enhanced products, and delta-neutral strategies that look familiar to private banks and multi-family offices. The Middle East appears to be following that script—just with more regulatory clarity than some regions had early on.

The Middle East’s Digital-Asset Moment

Why here, and why now?

Across the Gulf, regulators are attempting a rare balancing act: designing frameworks that are strict enough to ensure institutional comfort but flexible enough to attract innovation. Bahrain, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia have each rolled out digital-asset strategies, but Bahrain (through the Central Bank of Bahrain) has leaned heavily into licensing and compliance infrastructure early, which explains why ARP Digital is using its Bahrain entity as the launch hub.

Institutional adoption in the region is also rising because the customer mix is shifting. Multi-family offices and sovereign-wealth-linked investment vehicles are exploring tokenized assets, structured crypto products, and hedged yield strategies. They’re not chasing meme coins; they’re seeking the same risk-adjusted returns they expect from traditional markets.

That’s where ARP Digital wants to position itself: as the first major regional provider offering the full suite—wealth management, structured products, and asset-management solutions—powered by a global-caliber trading engine in DV Trading.

A New CIO with Derivatives DNA

In a move that surprised absolutely no one watching the macro-trading space, ARP Digital hired from its new partner. Anestis Arampatzis, previously Co-Head of Centaur Markets, will step into the role of Group CIO and Global Head of Assets & Wealth Management.

Arampatzis has built a career around derivatives, market-making, and delivering institutional-grade risk structures—precisely the toolkit ARP Digital needs to bridge the gap between traditional finance expectations and digital-asset volatility.

Arampatzis said he’s joining at a moment when “regulated digital wealth management products are growing rapidly in the Middle East,” driven by clarity and demand from sophisticated investors. That aligns with a market trend: institutions who avoided crypto in its “Wild West” stage are now turning to regulated vehicles, tokenized funds, and structured products as safer entry points.

Bringing in a CIO known for derivatives architecture also sends a signal to competitors: ARP Digital intends to play in the same league as established global players entering the region—like Laser Digital (Nomura), 21Shares, and the growing set of tokenization-platform entrants.

Why This Partnership Matters in a Crowded Market

This isn’t the first time a liquidity provider has teamed up with a regional digital-asset firm—but it’s one of the few with a clear focus on regulated structured products rather than simple trading access.

Here’s what makes the partnership notable:

1. Institutional-first design.
A lot of crypto firms claim to serve institutions. Few can actually deliver derivatives-backed, hedged, market-maker-supported structures.

2. Regulatory alignment.
Launching through Bahrain (pending approvals) signals discipline. The region has learned from the global fallout of unregulated crypto.

3. Centaur Markets adds technical firepower.
DV Trading’s structured-product and options-pricing capabilities give the partnership something most regional firms lack: global-tier quantitative infrastructure.

4. Client distribution advantage.
ARP Digital already has Gulf-focused UHNW and institutional relationships—something global players often struggle to build quickly.

5. The product mix may set a new regional standard.
If ARP Digital can roll out a scalable suite of structured notes, yield products, and hedged exposures, rivals will need to follow, potentially accelerating market maturity.

All of this positions the combined offering as a counterweight to the region’s growing roster of tokenization platforms and digital-asset investment vehicles. The next two years are likely to determine who anchors the institutional landscape in the Gulf—and ARP Digital is making its bid early.

DV Trading’s Strategic Angle

For DV Trading, the partnership offers something equally valuable: distribution.

The firm has long been a global trading powerhouse with diversified strategies that span derivatives, commodities, FX, crypto, and volatility markets. But scaling structured-product deployments takes access to the right investor base—which ARP Digital provides.

Jared Vegosen, Co-Founder of the DV Group, framed the partnership as a way to “deploy our structured product expertise at greater scale” and reach “new institutional markets.”
Translation: the Middle East is turning into a highly-lucrative institutional crypto market, and DV Trading wants to be embedded early.

The Centaur Markets desk, in particular, gives the partnership a dedicated market-making capability in digital assets—something most regional wealth-management firms simply don’t have the infrastructure to replicate internally.

The Bigger Picture: Institutions Want Crypto, But With Seatbelts

The rise of digital-asset structured products highlights a broader shift in institutional sentiment. For years, institutions either stayed away from crypto entirely or relied solely on Bitcoin ETFs, which remain blunt tools compared to traditional portfolio-engineering options.

But now the demand is for:

• Capital-protected crypto notes
• Yield-enhanced digital-asset products
• Volatility-controlled exposure
• Options-based hedging strategies
• Tokenized multi-asset portfolios

These are precisely the tools that turn crypto from a speculative asset into a portfolio component. And these are the tools ARP Digital and DV Trading want to commercialize at scale.

The structured-product model also softens volatility impact—something risk committees appreciate—and creates opportunities for investors who want crypto upside without the full downside.

It’s no coincidence that global firms like Galaxy, HashKey, Coinbase Institutional, and Nomura’s Laser Digital have rolled out similar strategies. The Middle East’s timing is sync’d with a global pivot toward regulated, institution-friendly crypto structures.

Competition Is Coming—Fast

While ARP Digital’s partnership is notable, it enters a competitive landscape that has accelerated dramatically:

• Dubai’s VARA is attracting major institutional players, including global custody providers and trading desks.
• Bahrain has become a licensing destination for digital-asset firms seeking regulatory clarity.
• Saudi Arabia is quietly building digital-asset infrastructure, often through partnerships with global financial institutions.
• Tokenization platforms are emerging across the Gulf, offering real-world-asset securitization.
• Global firms have begun offering crypto-linked structured notes to regional private banks.

In that context, ARP Digital’s move is both defensive and offensive: secure a top-tier liquidity partner before rivals do, build the region’s first comprehensive structured-product platform, and hire a CIO with the derivatives background needed to execute.

If the company succeeds, it may set the standards that latecomers need to match.

A Vision of “Regulated Digital Wealth Management”

The leadership at ARP Digital frames the partnership as part of a broader mission: defining what regulated digital-asset wealth management looks like in the Middle East.

Co-CEO Abdulaziz Kanoo highlighted the aim to deliver “differentiated, customizable investment products” supported by the new CIO’s expertise and “cultural alignment.”
That last phrase is more important than it appears. Global crypto firms often underestimate the nuances of regional client behavior, risk appetite, and regulatory engagement. ARP Digital, anchored locally but powered by global technology, is positioning itself as a bridge between those worlds.

If the model works, it could accelerate the region’s shift from speculative retail trading to institutional-grade digital-asset portfolio design.

The Bottom Line

The ARP Digital–DV Trading partnership is more than a deal announcement—it’s a sign of a rapidly maturing digital-asset ecosystem in the Middle East. The combination of regional distribution, global-grade trading infrastructure, and a derivatives-savvy CIO places ARP Digital among the firms shaping the next stage of institutional crypto adoption in the Gulf.

As regulatory clarity improves and institutions demand more complex, risk-managed products, the firms that can blend structured-product engineering with digital-asset innovation will define the competitive landscape.
ARP Digital is betting it will be one of them.