Joseph Dallago, co-founder and CEO of Rain, has emerged as a defining figure in the cryptocurrency industry in the Middle East. His work over the past several years has positioned Rain as a pioneering, regulated crypto-exchange spanning Bahrain, the UAE, Turkey and beyond. Through deep engagement with regulators, disciplined fundraising, and a focus on trust, Dallago has shaped not just a company, but a shifting financial landscape in the region.
Early Years & Formative Experience
Joseph Dallago grew up in Santa Cruz, California, where he developed a passion for technology and software from a young age. He studied Computer Engineering at the University of Iowa, where alongside AJ Nelson he co-founded an education startup called Pi that aimed to improve communication in classrooms. That venture, though modest, set early indicators of Dallago’s ability to start and scale tech products.
Prior to Rain, Dallago held engineering and development roles in several tech companies. These included working at SurveyMonkey, Rockwell Collins, and later at the digital currency platform Abra. These experiences deepened his understanding of both product engineering and the emerging crypto space.
Founding Rain & Regulatory Firsts
In 2017, Joseph Dallago founded Rain along with AJ Nelson, Abdullah Almoaiqel, and Yehia Badawy. From the outset, Rain’s ambition was clear: to create a cryptocurrency exchange that was user-friendly,and properly regulated and Sharia-compliant, something that was rare in the region.
Rain entered the regulatory sandbox of the Central Bank of Bahrain in late 2017 and in early 2019 became the first crypto-asset service provider licensed under Bahrain’s Central Bank (Category 3). This regulatory approval gave Rain legitimacy, enabling it to form banking partnerships and to operate in several Middle Eastern markets under firm legal frameworks.
Rain’s commitment to Sharia compliance was also built in early. In 2019, the Shariyah Review Bureau certified Rain’s services (including brokerage, custody, and trading) for a suite of cryptocurrencies (notably Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin). This opened the platform to Islamic institutional and individual investors who require such compliance.
Expansion, Funding, and Service Growth
Rain has steadily expanded its geographic footprint and regulatory approvals. In 2023, Rain gained permission in the UAE via the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Financial Services Regulatory Authority to offer full virtual assets services including fiat-to-crypto rails (on-ramps and off-ramps). This added layer of regulatory approval strengthened Rain’s position in the region.
On the fundraising front, Rain has raised significant capital. In January 2021 it raised US$6 million in a Series A round, led by Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP) with participation from Coinbase, Vision Ventures, and other investors. Later, in January 2022, Rain secured US$110 million in Series B funding, co‐led by Paradigm and Kleiner Perkins, with additional participation from Coinbase Ventures, Global Founders Capital and others.
Service-wise, Rain’s platform supports customers across a number of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries including Bahrain, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and, via its Turkish entity, Türkiye. It offers services to buy, sell, and store approved cryptocurrencies, with an increasing number of tradable coins as the platform evolves.
Leadership Style and Vision
Dallago operates Rain with a dual focus: technology excellence and regulatory compliance. He has led the product and engineering teams, emphasizing design quality, user experience, and trust especially important in the financial and crypto sectors where user concerns around security and legitimacy are high.
He has also stressed the importance of collaboration with regulators rather than working in opposition. Rain’s licensing, its certification work, and its regulatory approvals in Bahrain and ADGM are all evidence of that strategy. Dallago often emphasizes that regulation and compliance are central to building trust among users and institutions.
Impact & Current Position
By early 2022, Rain was viewed as one of the most well-funded such companies in the region. Forbes Middle East placed Rain among the top funded startups in the MENA region, noting total investment in the order of US$118 million as of that time. Rain’s trading volume had crossed US$1–2 billion in earlier years; the platform serves tens or hundreds of thousands of users.
Rain’s advancement of virtual asset regulation in the UAE (ADGM) in 2023, its Shariah compliance, and its consistent expansion have marked it as a standard-setter in the region. Under Joseph Dallago’s leadership, Rain is increasingly seen as a crypto empire and as an infrastructure builder for regulated virtual asset markets in the Middle East.
Why Trust Defines His Legacy
Joseph Dallago has built Rain by anchoring its growth in regulation, compliance, and product quality. His leadership has helped Rain become the first licensed crypto-asset service provider in Bahrain, to acquire UAE licensing, to raise over a hundred million dollars in investment, and to serve a rapidly expanding user base throughout the MENA region. While some metrics reported remain awaiting external verification, the substantial achievements licensing, fundraising, Shariah compliance, geographic expansion are well supported by credible sources.
Rain under Joseph Dallago exemplifies a crypto empire that accepts regulation as a competitive strength rather than a hurdle. In so doing, Rain has shaped its own growth trajectory, and nudged broader regulatory frameworks in the Middle East to evolve.
