UAE ranks third globally in terms of number of Blockchain startups

UAE ranks third globally in terms of number of Blockchain startups

The 2022 Worldwide crypto readiness report looks into the number of crypto ATMs, legislations, taxes surrounding cryptocurrencies, as well as the number of blockchain start-ups and the level of interest in crypto in order to find the most crypto ready countries. The 2022 report revealed that the UAE ranks third globally when it comes to the number of blockchain start-ups. The UAE has close to 120 blockchain start-ups or 1.2 blockchain startups per 100,000 people.

As per the 2022 report, Hong Kong was number one on the list in terms of crypto readiness, The country was crowned the most crypto-ready as it ranked in the top three for three of the categories looked at, including the number of blockchain start-ups per 100,00 people and the number of crypto ATMs proportional to the population. Hong Kong also doesn’t tax capital gains on crypto, making it appealing to investors.

Next up was the United States; the US took second place thanks to the huge number of crypto ATMs in the country, more than ten times that of its closest competitor, or 3.6 more per 100,000 people.

In third place was Switzerland. Switzerland ranked high due to its high number of crypto ATMs per 100,000 people and no capital gains tax, ranking in the top five for both factors. The country is also one of the most enterprising, took number one place for the number of blockchain start-ups.

Switzerland was crowned as the country with the most blockchain start-ups, boasting 12.9 blockchain start-ups per 100,000 residents, or 1,128 in total.  This has been due to the proactive approach taken by the Swiss financial authorities, which has lead to a booming blockchain industry with 14 of its start-ups worth over $1 billion.

While the United Arab Emirates took fourth place globally in the overall crypto readiness ranking, it also grabbed 3rd place with regards to the number of Blockchains start-ups. The UAE boasted of 1.2 blockchain start-ups per 100,000 people. UAE has a population of approximately 10 million which would mean that the UAE has 120 blockchain start-ups residing in the country.

UAE was preceded by Hong Kong who took second place with three blockchain start-ups per 100,000 people.

In terms of the countries which have the most interest in cryptocurrencies, Australia took first place, with 4,579 “cryptocurrency” searches per 100,000 people, just under 18% of Australia’s population owning crypto in 2021.

Second place went to Ireland which has 3,472 “cryptocurrency” searches per 100,000 people, followed by United Kingdom in third place with 3,409 “cryptocurrency” searches per 100,000 people. UAE took fourth place with 3, 342 ‘cryptocurrency’ searches per 100,000 people.

Security token regulations to be issued in Saudi Arabia by end of 2022

Security token regulations to be issued in Saudi Arabia by end of 2022

In an interview with CNBC Al Arabia, Yazeed Saleh Aldemaigi Deputy, Strategy & International Affairs, at Saudi Capital Market Authority (CMA) announced that regulations for Security Token offerings (STO) will be out before the end of 2022 in Saudi Arabia.

As per the interview, application for STO offerings will be available on the CMA digital platform by end of 2022. He added that the Fintech Lab at CMA has been working on finding the most appropriate environments for FinTech startups.

The STO regulations that will come out at the end of 2022 will help to attract foreign investment firms interested in the FinTech domain in KSA as well as support local companies.

The Fintech Lab from CMA was launched in 2017.  It aimed to provide a regulatory framework that is conducive for the innovation of Financial Technology (FinTech) in the capital market within the Kingdom.

One of the business models under the Fintech Lab was related to use of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) to arrange the Offering of Securities and Custody Services. It is a platform that uses Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) to arrange the offering of securities (Sukuk as a preliminary stage) to investors, in coordination with the Issuer and the Authorized Person (AP) assigned by the Issuer as an Offering Advisor.

India based NFT startup raises $3.26 million with participation of UAE investors

India based NFT startup raises $3.26 million with participation of UAE investors

Artfi, a non-fungible token (NFT) focused startup, has raised $3.26 million from several investors including Sheikha Hend Al Qassemi, a member of the ruling family of Emirate of Sharjah, and Raza Beig, director of Landmark Group, UAE.

The current funding was raised at a valuation of $100 million. Artfi is on a mission to democratize the fine art space by fractionizing high-value artworks into limited editions NFTs.

The NFTs will be minted on the polygon network. The fine art fintech company is now gearing up for whitelisting for its first fine art NFT offering from August and is also working towards developing a museum in the metaverse where the art collection will be always accessible.

Asif Kamal, Founder of Artfi stated that the company will use the investment funds to build its technology and a dedicated marketplace for fine art NFTs. A portion of the funds will also be deployed to strengthen its product and team.

Kamal stated in an interview, “Artfi was launched with a vision to make art accessible to everyone. People can now invest in fine art with a very nominal investment and can liquidate it whenever they need to by using the secondary marketplace. At the end of the day, the company will re-sell the art that the Artfi Museum holds on behalf of NFT owners and share the profit with each NFT holder who owns shares in the painting. This is an opportunity for people to now diversify their portfolios from stocks, fixed deposits etc. and invest in one of the largest asset classes that have outperformed all these traditional investments for over 30 years.”

Artfi has already onboarded paintings from eminent personalities including contemporary British artist Sacha Jafri and Indian abstract artist VS Gaitonde.

UAE now home to first crypto basket investing app

UAE now home to first crypto basket investing app

Singaporean start-up, KoinBasket, which recently received a 2 million USD pre-seed funding, is launching the UAE’s first crypto basket application. The company wants to make investing in crypto as easy as online shopping.

As per the press release, the crypto basket application will also provide the with superlative fundamental analysis from KoinBasket. The company is backed by marquee investors that include Angellist quant fund, Stonks fund, Kube VC cryptopreneurs like Polygon founder Sandeep Nailwal and Global CXOs from Ripple, Binance Citibank, Google, Accenture, Nomura, Fiserv and many more.

Elaborating on how KoinBasket’s collaboration with global crypto exchanges will transform the way the world invests in crypto assets, Co-Founder and CEO Khaleelulla Baig states, “The UAE is an emerging market for us and we are excited to launch a variety of basket options in the Emirates, which is rapidly growing to become a global crypto hub with proactive and encouraging regulations by the government under a visionary leadership. Investing in crypto assets can be both fascinating and terrifying considering the mind-blowing returns on investment and the inherent volatility displayed by most crypto assets. At KoinBasket, we believe that investing in well-researched and curated baskets can be more rewarding in the long term and offers a hassle-free option for millions of investors who are still contemplating investing in this booming asset class.”

Created with the aim of solving the challenge faced by crypto investors in studying and investing in crypto assets like crypto tokens and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), KoinBasket is simplifying the entire process by offering thematic and sector-based crypto baskets such as its Moon basket, G.O.A.T basket, NFT & Gaming basket, Internet sensation basket and many more that are in the pipeline.

The application has 0% transaction fees and initial investments starting from as low as AED 500 AED. Users can trade in multiple crypto tokens simultaneously with KoinBasket’s basket order facility while its unique health check engine scours crypto data for both red flags and lucrative investing opportunities, to provide them with alerts to take prompt action and rebalance their portfolios accordingly.

Mr. Baig said: “KoinBasket will be catering to more than 300 million crypto users across the top crypto exchanges in the world and bowling them over with our secure, convenient and user-friendly investment interface that can help them build a diversified crypto portfolio offering a broader market exposure beyond the top cryptocurrencies. With more baskets in the offing, including those that focus on decentralized finance (DeFi), KoinBasket will soon be synonymous with mutual fund/ETF investing, but for crypto assets.”

Japanese crypto custody provider receives provisional license from Dubai VARA

Japanese crypto custody provider receives provisional license from Dubai VARA

Komainu,  a regulated digital asset custody provider created by Japanese investment bank Nomura, digital asset manager CoinShares and digital asset security company Ledger. has been granted a provisional regulatory approval from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority [VARA] to commence operational readiness. The provisional license will enable Komainu to be amongst the first fully regulated digital asset custody services to institutional clients in the region.

As per the press release, Komainu acts as key gatekeeper to institutions gaining exposure to the digital asset industry with the provision of secure and regulated digital asset custody services for blockchain and beyond. Over the years, Komainu has established itself as one of the leading digital asset custody providers for institutional clients, providing the same safeguards and protections investors are accustomed to in traditional finance. The Custodian’s industry-leading services have been designed by security, financial services and cryptocurrency experts and have been approved by external auditors.

Komainu has elected to base its regional HQ in Dubai and participate in this fast-evolving global virtual asset valley – in order to establish its leadership in the provision of institutional-grade digital asset services across the wider region.

H.E. Helal Saeed Almarri, Chairman of VARA, said, “Komainu’s entry into VARA’s regime is symbolic of the confidence and credibility that the Virtual Assets industry is gaining when backed by such strong endorsement from traditional finance leaders like Nomura. Such acceptance and active participation of tier 1 global institutional finance firms is not only an affirmation of Virtual Assets being integral to the future of finance, but also indicative of the potential that this industry can offer for economic empowerment. Dubai is pleased to welcome credible players like Komainu into VARA’s virtual assets ecosystem.”

The regulatory license once received, will establish Komainu as one of Dubai’s first regulated crypto custody providers, bringing a much-needed service to the proliferating regional ecosystem. The endorsement from the Dubai Government strengthens the Custodian’s fast-paced growth projections, in line with their core underpinning of doing so in a secure, robust and regulated manner. With the continued support of the Dubai regulators, Komainu is set to be a first mover in the MENA region.

Sebastian Widmann, Head of Strategy at Komainu, said, “Dubai and VARA are establishing a new hub for digital asset businesses and bringing like-minded companies into the country to help establish its growing crypto ecosystem and we look forward to contributing to these exciting developments. Komainu actively works with regulators, partners and our clients to make sure that our platform is held to the highest of standards and this latest endorsement by the Dubai Government is a further testament to that fact. By expanding into the MENA region, we are bringing a much-needed service to institutions operating within a regulated crypto marketplace. We are excited to bring Komainu Yield as well as the other new services set to launch in the near future to this marketplace and thereby serve a new demographic of institutions.”

OasisX MultiChain NFT marketplace the Oasis for NFTs in the MENA region

OasisX MultiChain NFT marketplace the Oasis for NFTs in the MENA region

The NFT (Non Fungible Token) marketplace trading volume is currently at around 4 billion USD per month despite the crypto bearish sentiments. Yet, the NFT segment is still far from saturated or mature, thus promising massive opportunities. Dubai-based OasisX, the first multi chain curated NFT Marketplace and Creator Studio is launching in a few weeks, paving the way for MENA based creators, collectors, and brands to take part in this new digital era. The platform has already on boarded more than 100 artists for its launch in addition to multiple regional brands for web3 activations.

Najib Khanafer, Ramzi Mneimneh, and Jimi Ibrahim decided to take on the challenge of building secure and accessible tools to navigate the NFT and web3 world, bringing meaningful impact to artists, creators, collectors and brands from the region. All three have extensive knowledge in crypto, blockchain and technology and have been early adopters of this disruptive digital trend According to the founders, Web3 is a more trustworthy foundation for achieving financial freedom; and NFTs represent a first, modest step towards solving one of the core problems of Web 2.0: digital applicability and ownership.

LaraontheBlock sat down with the Co-Founder of OasisX Najib Khanafer to learn more about the founders’ story and their unique and innovative platform, predicted to onboard artists, creators and collectors into the realm of NFTs.

What is OasisX?

As the name suggests, an oasis is a fertile ground in the middle of the desert, where water and plants are found. The X in OasisX is for Xploration, and marks the final destination for creators, collectors, and brands to position themselves on the web3 map. OasisX is a world where creativity is unlocked and where everyone can belong and discover their full potential.

NFTs have the right formula for success in MENA. Creative talent, culture, and the rich history of the region coupled with right tech infrastructure and regulatory environment will drive adoption. Khanafer states, “We are building the tech foundation and frontier to bridge the gap between MENA creators and web3, while providing collectors with a new way to support, own and trade in the upside of creativity.”

The broad NFT ecosystem continues to grow and expand, branching out into various new fields that have yet to be explored. At OasisX, users will be exposed to a wide range of categories, including 1/1 art, editions, PFPs, domain names, metaverse objects, music, and many more. To cater to that, OasisX supports the creation of NFTs using different multimedia types such as images, gifs, videos, audio, AR/VR, 3D objects and even documents.

Khanafer states: “We are still just scratching the surface of NFT applications. OasisX aims to support future use cases beyond digital art and collectibles, the obvious being other forms of creative output like utility NFTs and financial contracts (real-world assets). ”

With this in mind, OasisX intends to empower communities by supporting ownership through its inclusive NFT marketplace and Creator Studio, which will unlock new opportunities for artists, creators, brands, and collectors.

NFTs at scale done easy

The current NFT journey is complex, expensive and out of reach for artists, creators and creative teams. The Creator Studio, LaunchX, will securely enable its users to create, manage and mint NFTs at scale, without a single line of code, and at a highly reduced cost.

Khanafer explains, “We created a product that gives creators and brands the opportunity to engage with a tech trend. LaunchX is powered by an AI art generator, a smart contract creator and minting page editor, preserving true creative ownership.”

The user-friendly platform removes the barriers to entry for anyone who wants to tokenize their IP, while reducing the go-to-market and NFT deployment time from months to minutes. In short, LaunchX will enable NFT project creation in a few clicks.

Community empowering NFT Marketplace

As for the Marketplace, it allows users to list and shop NFTs on multiple chains including Ethereum, Polygon and Solana, while offering simple on boarding, non-crypto checkout options, and many other power tools such as bulk creation. Additionally, in its efforts to serve the MENA region, OasisX supports Arabic language on the platform.

Building the Oasis

After raising its pre-Seed round led by angel investors; the company is now looking to raise an additional 3 million USD in a new funding round. A majority of the funding will go into scaling the team, product and brand.

OasisX founders envision a future where the company will continue to exploit the potential of this technology, cementing it as a web3 powerhouse from the MENA region.

Blockchain RippleNet to power remittance service between Qatar and Philippines

Blockchain RippleNet to power remittance service between Qatar and Philippines

Qatar National Bank (QNB) has launched a direct remittance service powered by Blockchain RippleNet. The remittance service will offer money transfers from Qatar to Philippines connecting through China Bank.

China Bank is one of the leading private banks in the Philippines.

RippleNet is a financial technology powered by leading enterprise blockchain and crypto solutions provider. The new service will provide the Bank’s customers with a convenient remittance experience and a fast cross-border money transfer solution.

The service, which mainly targets Philippine nationals in Qatar, will allow them to make fund transfers  up to PHP 50,000 to any bank in the Philippines in real- time. All transactions above PHP 50,000 sent prior to the cut off time (3pm Manila time during working days)      will be credited on the next working day.

Adel Al-Malki, General Manager QNB Group Retail Banking, said: “QNB has always been pioneer financial technology accelerator in Qatar and the region. Our partnership with Ripple will provide our customers with a frictionless and safe experience to send funds in a way that fits their lifestyle.”

Navin Gupta, Managing Director, South Asia & MENA at Ripple said: “QNB is our biggest partner in the MENA region and we are delighted to continuously strengthen this partnership on RippleNet to additional countries. The Philippines is one of the largest remittance receivers globally, and we are pleased to be connecting QNB with China Bank to process remittances from Qatar to Philippines via RippleNet. ”

Matcha Capital takes on Pakistan with investment in BitBlaze crypto exchange

Matcha Capital takes on Pakistan with investment in BitBlaze crypto exchange

Matcha Capital, a Blockchain crypto investment fund based out of Europe, soon to be opening its offices in Dubai  UAE within DMCC ( Dubai Multi Commodities Centre) has made a significant investment in BitBlaze crypto exchange start-up, which will be launching its presence in Pakistan.

Omar Rahim, Managing Partner of Matcha Capital stated on LinkedIN, “It has been a long time in the making but I am delighted to make public our investment into BitBlaze which will be launching a cryptocurrency exchange in Pakistan, the 5th most populous nation on earth!”

As per Rahim’s post BitBlaze will be powered by Binance Cloud.

Rahim who was previously the Regional Director for Binance in MENA is one of the first to invest in BitBlaze’s pre seed round, founded by Abdul Alim and Imran Rahim. Rahim will also take over the role as chairman of BitBlaze noting his prior experience in Binance. Matcha Capital when launched in  early 2022 had stated that the fund would be capped at around 60 million USD.

Dr. Marwan Al Zarouni, a leading UAE blockchain entrepreneur and expert and Founder of Dubai Blockchain Centre was also among the pre seed investors in BitBlaze.  

Rahim added on LinkedIn, “We were delighted to support Abdul Alim & Imran Rahim at the pre-seed stage. They’ve been working tirelessly in the background for months and I wish them all the best with their upcoming seed round”

Omar Rahim spoke to LaraontheBlock about this investment given the current bearish market. He noted, “ This is our biggest investment to date, even though the markets are reeling right now and many crypto companies are scaling back. Yet, we feel carefully planned investments can drive real value in these markets. These investments are great for the investor but more importantly great for the Startups because they are focused on building and not on token prices.”

As for why Pakistan, Rahim explains, “Pakistan continues to be a sleeping giant. As the 5th most populous nation on earth, the market is huge and in terms of crypto adoption is holds the top three position worldwide. People are just waking up to the potential that this exciting market offers and we want to lead the way in building crypto infrastructure in Pakistan.”

Zimbabwe grants UAE Mulk International exclusive license to establish a blockchain and digital assets zone

Zimbabwe grants UAE Mulk International exclusive license to establish a blockchain and digital assets zone

UAE Mulk International has been granted an exclusive license to establish a blockchain and digital assets special economic zone in Zimbabwe. This comes in parallel with Mulk International pledge to develop a 500 million USD Cyber City Hi tech park near the capital of Zimbabwe, Harare.

The project Zim Cyber City, will facilitate special window clearance of blockchain and digital assets licenses and bank accounts, cutting-edge office spaces and high-end residential living for all individuals and entities operating and living in the community.

Owner of Mulk International, Dubai based billionaire Shaji Ul Mulk has pledged to fund the project. As per an interview with Zimbabwean media, Ul Mulk stated, “The project will include villas, cyber technology offices, shopping malls, and the tallest tower in Africa the Mulk Towers all constructed on 2.5 million square metres of land.”

The first phase of the project is expected to be complete in the next two years. Local businessman Tempter Tungwarara, who first brought the investor, said he was ecstatic that his efforts were finally coming to fruition.

The President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa broke ground to launch the $500 million (Dh1.83 billion) Zim Cyber City.

Adnan Ul Mulk, Vice-Chairman of Mulk International, says, “We are keen to witness Zim Cyber City’s role in the successful integration of blockchain and crypto technology and premium, residential living. I am thankful to President Emmerson Mnangagwa for his staunch support in making Zim Cyber City a project of national importance.”

UAE Crypto exchange partners with RAK Bank to offer localized AED trading

UAE Crypto exchange partners with RAK Bank to offer localized AED trading

UAE RAK Bank has partnered with Kraken crypto asset exchange to offer virtual assets trading in AED using their local bank account.

As regulated by the Central Bank of UAE, RAKBANK will enable Kraken, which is licensed by Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), to have their UAE-based clients fund their crypto account through local fund transfers from any bank in the UAE.  Kraken was the first global exchange to have received a full license to operate a regulated virtual asset exchange platform in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM).

Currently, UAE residents who trade virtual assets must use banks or foreign correspondents outside the UAE to fund their trading. As a result, they incur high foreign exchange costs and fees, experience long lead times (more than 24 hours) and are subject to overseas-jurisdiction asset governance. Through this innovative solution, UAE residents will be able to fund their account faster and at lesser costs, all while remaining within the UAE’s jurisdiction.

“We are proud to be the first UAE bank to enable Kraken, so that it can offer this solution to its UAE-resident crypto investors. This is another step towards our goal of making banking simpler and easier through innovation,” said Raheel Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer of RAKBANK. “The UAE is emerging as a global hub for the crypto and virtual assets industry. With this breakthrough solution, Kraken’s UAE-based investors will be able to transact in virtual assets transparently and efficiently through an ADGM-regulated crypto exchange that has the ability to convert between AED and crypto through UAE Central Bank-regulated banking channels. We are pleased to support the UAE’s vision of becoming a global hub for virtual assets. We believe this offering will enable a simpler, faster and cheaper solution for UAE residents.

“Kraken is one of the largest and most trusted virtual asset exchanges in the world,” said Benjamin Ampen, Managing Director for Kraken MENA. “Investors in the UAE will soon be able to directly participate and invest in the crypto market. Our solution is safer, more secure, more efficient and reduces costs. Alongside our partners at RAKBANK and under the pioneering regulatory oversight of the ADGM, we are about to make our vision of AED-denominated crypto trading in the UAE a reality.”

H.E Ahmed Jassim Al Zaabi, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) said, “We congratulate RAKBANK and Kraken on this successful partnership that showcases the thriving virtual asset ecosystem of Abu Dhabi and the trust that financial institutions have in the ADGM’s regulatory framework. Today, as an International Financial Centre, we are the leading jurisdiction in the region for the regulation of virtual asset activities and we strongly believe that this partnership is a step forward that confirms Abu Dhabi’s role as a catalyst for virtual-asset innovation”.