Ras Al Khaimah’s recently announced free zone for virtual asset firms will explore accepting crypto payments from companies looking into setting up their businesses in the emirate, a lawyer involved in the hub’s development said. Dubai-based crypto lawyer Irina Heaver told Cointelegraph that once the Ras Al Khaimah Digital Assets Oasis (RAK DAO) secures the appropriate partners, it will check out crypto payments, including Bitcoin (BTC) and other stablecoins, for corporate registrations, office rent and other services. “After all, cities and cantons in Switzerland have been doing this for years,” she noted. Heaver further explained that suitable technology and regulatory …

Ras Al Khaimah, one of the seven emirates that make up the UAE, is set to launch a free zone for digital and virtual asset companies as the country’s approach to the industry continues to attract global crypto players. The RAK Digital Assets Oasis (RAK DAO) will be a “purpose-built, innovation-enabling free zone for non-regulated activities in the virtual assets sector.” Applications will open in the second quarter of 2023, the statement said. The free zone would be dedicated to digital and virtual assets service providers in emerging technologies, such as the metaverse, blockchain, utility tokens, virtual asset wallets, NFTs, …

The city of Dubai has been very welcoming to the crypto space, providing the much-needed regulatory clarity to help the industry thrive. While this attracts native Web3 and crypto businesses to the emirate, even non-crypto businesses started integrating technologies like crypto, nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and even the metaverse into their operations. Cointelegraph went to explore various parts of Dubai to find out how crypto and Web3 technologies have been integrated within some businesses in the emirate. Ordering groceries with cryptocurrencies Day To Day, one of the popular and most affordable grocery chains in Dubai, announced that it started to accept …

Abu Dhabi's technology ecosystem, Hub71, has announced a new initiative called "Hub71+ Digital Assets," with a capital backing of over US$2 billion. This project aims to advance Web3-based innovations, such as blockchain technology and metaverse applications. The initiative aspires to provide Web3 startups with access to a range of programs, and initiatives, as well as, corporate, government, and investment partners in both global markets and the UAE. The Hub71+ Digital Assets initiative said it intends to provide Web3 startups with access to a state-of-the-art blockchain and virtual asset infrastructure, as well as a progressive regulatory environment. This initiative will be …

The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) is planning to launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for cross-border and domestic use as part of the first of its newly-launched financial infrastructure transformation (FIT) program. In a recent announcement by the CBUAE, the central bank introduced the FIT program and highlighted its aim to support the country’s financial services sector. The central bank pointed out that the program would promote digital transactions and aim to enable the UAE’s competitiveness as a financial and digital payment hub. The first stage of the FIT program includes the issuance of a …

The Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) recently provided the much-awaited guidelines for virtual asset service providers (VASPs) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which included a ban on privacy coins. On Feb. 7, VARA released several rulebooks for VASPs including the "Virtual Assets and Related Activities Regulations 2023" in which VARA mentioned a prohibition on privacy coins. In the document, VARA wrote: “The issuance of Anonymity-Enhanced Cryptocurrencies and all VA Activity[ies] related to them are prohibited in the Emirate.” Cointelegraph reached out to several players within Dubai and a privacy protocol project to find out how market participants feel about the …

The Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA), the regulator in charge of overseeing cryptocurrency laws within Dubai, has issued new guidelines for virtual asset service providers (VASP) operating within the emirate. According to information sent by Irina Heaver, a crypto and blockchain lawyer based in the United Arab Emirates, VARA has issued the “Full Market Product Regulations” which include four compulsory rulebooks and activity-specific rulebooks that lays down the rules for operating VASPs. The rules apply to market participants within Dubai only, with the exception of those operating under the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), a free zone with its own …

Crypto will play a “major role” in the United Arab Emirates' global trade moving forward, says the UAE’s minister of state for foreign trade Thani Al-Zeyoudi. Speaking with Bloomberg on Jan. 20 in Davos Switzerland — where world leaders are currently gathered for the 2023 World Economic Forum — Al-Zeyoudi provided a host of updates regarding the UAE’s trade partnerships and policies heading into 2023. Commenting on the crypto sector, the minister stated that “crypto will play a major role for UAE trade going forward,” as he outlined that "the most important thing is that we ensure global governance when …

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Cabinet has decided to pass a new law that governs virtual assets, setting up the country's initial regulatory regime for the cryptocurrency space at the federal level. Before the federal-level regulation, the UAE already introduced several supervisory initiatives for digital assets in financial free zones like the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). Last year, Dubai also established its own crypto regulator called the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority. Irina Heaver, a UAE-based crypto and blockchain lawyer, explained that the move has several implications in the space. According to Heaver, the new law makes sure that entities …

Abu Dhabi-based blockchain platform Venom Foundation and investment manager Iceberg Capital announced they will allocate $1 billion of funding to Web3 and blockchain firms through a new partnership. The Venom Ventures Fund is set to invest in protocols and Web3 decentralized applications (DApps) focused on payments, asset management, decentralized finance (DeFi) and GameFi products and services. The fund is a partnership between layer-1 blockchain solution, Venom Foundation and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) investment management firm, Iceberg Capital. The latter will look to leverage its existing network to offer incubation programs and industry connections as well as marketing, exchange listing …

The year 2022 wasn’t the best one in terms of crypto reputation among regulators and policymakers. However, even amid the market breakdown and repetitive public attacks on the industry, some of the officials found the courage to embrace the innovation. Some of the names are not new, while others showed progress significant enough to include them in this listicle. The United Arab Emirates and El Salvador continued to push their crypto agenda and the United Kingdom showed great effort to lay the regulatory foundation, while Brazil and the Central African Republic legally recognized the cryptocurrencies. Brazil 2021 might have been …

Before the rise of centralized exchanges (CEXs), over-the-counter (OTC) trading was the go-to method to buy or sell cryptocurrency for many crypto investors. The FTX collapse could trigger a bigger demand for crypto OTC services as investors are looking for alternative methods to convert from and to fiat due to weaker trust in CEXs. Cointelegraph spoke with BestChange, a Russian OTC crypto exchange aggregator, to learn more about the current state of OTC markets. “The role of OTC is sometimes underestimated amid the all-encompassing marketing of centralized exchanges,” BestChange chief analyst Nikita Zuborev said. According to the exec, OTCs often …