UAE Helion Ventures is going to Lebanon with Beirut Digital District

UAE Helion Ventures is going to Lebanon with Beirut Digital District

UAE Helion Ventures investment, is heading to Beirut Lebanon for a round table meeting on May 11th at Beirut Digital District. Helion launched its operations in Dubai’s DIFC in September 2022 focusing on four major sectors, banking 3.0, healthcare, tokenization of real world assets, green technology, gaming, and fintech in projects across the GCC and African region.

The founders, Oliver von Wolff and Bojan al Pinto Brkic, have long-term experience in venture capital and regulated products. Oliver von Wolff, Founder and CEO, at launch stated, “Our products and services perfectly complement the ecosystem for Dubai start-ups, we are a classic equity provider and venture builder with focus on institutional investors”, to which Bojan added “we intend to capitalize on our experience, bringing the investment management know-how to new industries, such are blockchain and fintech, and even gaming and crypto.”

It is not surprising to see Helion Ventures off to Beirut, given that they are one of the most active investment venture entities when it comes to partnerships and event participation. Just before Beirut, launched Helion has partnered with Crypto 306 event taking place on May 8th 2023 at the Ritz Carlton in Dubai UAE.

Partnerships are a key pillar for Helion. For example, They have partnered with Syndicate Capital Group incubator given Helion’ interest in investing in South East Asia. Earlier, they partnered with the African Chamber of Digital Commerce, and the Hong Kong Federation of e-commerce.

Their spirit of partnerships goes even further, as they have equally partnered with other venture builders such as UAE based Masary Capital, New Tribe Capital, and Uganda based CryptoSavannah.

When it comes to startups, their most well-known investments and partnerships include cryptobank, DeFi startup Yieldster, dOTC MarsBase, DeFi OTC desk as well as African Blockchain internet startup 3air.

The 3air ecosystem is built to make it easier for previously unconnected users to join the global blockchain community. Internet subscriptions are purchased which grant the user a Connectivity NFT that can be shared, transferred and used at any 3air-compatible location. Once connected, 3air’s blockchain platform offers users access to the world of blockchain and DeFi. Users can own a digital identity, create wallets, take micro-loans and participate in revenue-generating activities.

Helion has even partnered with UAE free zones such as IFZA International Free Zone Authority

LaraontheBlock spoke to Oliver earlier to understand why Helion Ventures chose to set up in UAE and focus on MENA and Africa. He stated, “Given my previous role at Swiss Based CV Labs and then at Dubai’s Crypto Oasis, I helped build UAE’s Web3 ecosystem. So when I ventured to launch Helion I thought of Dubai because it has three essential pillars, financial capital, infrastructure, and human capital as well as its entrepreneurial spirit.”

He adds, “Helion Venture stands in the middle on one side we have friends and family investors which is not regulated and on the other we offer family offices and high network individuals the opportunity to invest with us.”

Helion invests anywhere between $50,000 – $100,000 for early pre seed stage projects, and take equity stakes for anywhere between $250,000- $500,000. They invest both in tokens and equity.

According to Oliver, Helion has a steady good quality deal flow given his long term experience and his former work at CV Labs and as such there are always great projects being presented to Helion and not spam projects.

He explains, “ We carry out strong due diligence and make selected investments, but we are also venture builders which means we actively manage our investments by supporting them with marketing, networking, business cases and so forth. We are also always open to working with other VCs because we believe if one VC has a strong project it should be shared to support these projects even more.”

While Helion’s policy is not to lead investments they do like to be anchor investors. Oliver clarified, “Anchor investors give money and support while lead investors like to take a more strategic managerial influence which I believe is not the best choice. When we invest we have already done our due diligence and trust the technology but more importantly the team.”

Oliver is bullish for2023 and believes crypto markets will go up in mid-2023. He sees the biggest markets will come from NFTs that actually have customer uses cases, like ticketing, etc.. and also sees the metaverse growing with serious projects as well as early stage token market.

Egyptian Blockchain Pravica messaging startup receives investment from Cardano’s Blockchain accelerator

Egyptian Blockchain Pravica messaging startup receives investment from Cardano’s Blockchain accelerator

Egyptian founded and UAE based Pravica, a blockchain company offering decentralized private messaging and community group solutions, has secured a funding investment from Adaverse Cardano Ecosystem Accelerator and venture capitalist. Adaverse aggregates entrepreneurs, strategists and mentors building its most robust foundation in Africa and Asia.

The investment will be used to support the company’s growth and development, including its efforts to expand its chain-agnostic web3 messaging platform that enables users from different blockchains to communicate in a truly end-to-end encrypted (E2EE), open source and decentralized environment.

“Pravica empowers users to take control of their own encryption keys and protect their privacy on the new user-owned Internet” said Mohamed Abdou, CEO of Pravica. “This investment from Adaverse will help us bring our unique approach to secure communication to a wider audience.”

In September 2022, Pravica launched the first DcFi ( Decentralized Communications and Finance platform) under the name Pravica Club. 

Adaverse, a leading investor in blockchain technology, sees the potential for Pravica’s chain-agnostic platform in the market. 

Adaverse is a collaborative initiative between EMURGO and Everest Ventures Group to support blockchain founders with funds, mentorship, and tech infrastructure to scale Web3 Solutions. 

Shogo Ishida, Co-CEO for the Middle East & Africa at EMURGO Africa, commented “Adaverse and EMURGO are excited to support Pravica’s vision of a decentralized, secure communications system built on the blockchain. Both in Africa and across the world, recent market events have highlighted the importance of security and confidentiality in the Web3 space. Pravica provides one of the first tangible solutions to this issue, and Adaverse is glad to be joining their journey with strategic mentorship and tools for growth on the Cardano blockchain.”

The funding from Adaverse will enable Pravica to continue to develop and expand its chain-agnostic messaging platform, enabling secure communication for users across different blockchains.

Prior to the investment from both EMURGO Africa and Adaverse Pravica had received investment from 500 Startups fund. 

In addition Pravica had made some impressive new hiring announcements. Bedie Moran has joined as the Chief Operating Officer of Pravica. Bedie brings a wealth of experience in Fintech working as a management consultant for KPMG Consulting and as head of the strategy team for E-trade Financial. More recently Bedie has focused his attention on supporting digital startups in Africa and the Middle East.

Pravica also announced the appointment of Alejandro Criado-Pérez as their new Chief Technology Officer. Alejandro Criado-Pérez brings a wealth of experience and expertise in the field of blockchain, having previously worked as Tech lead at Stacks Foundation.

One of the key projects that Alejandro will be working on is Pravica Club. 

Algerian Central Bank to adopt CBDC for national currency

Algerian Central Bank to adopt CBDC for national currency

At the end of 2022 the Prime Minister of Algeria, Aimene Benabderrahmane announced that the Central Bank of Algeria is intending to adopt a national digital currency under the name of “Algerian digital dinar” as part of the digitalization of payments.

In his speech the Prime Minister stated, “One of the main workshops held at the Central Bank of Algeria, was under the theme digital payments that would allow the adoption of a digital form of money. It would ensure that the issuance, management and control of the digital currency, the Algerian digital dinar would be under the Central Bank.”

As reported by the Algeria Press Service these statements were made on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the Central Banks Future Challenges conference organized by the Bank of Algeria.

“In the digital age, the need to strengthen the security and control of payment systems will undoubtedly be felt, new challenges that the Bank of Algeria must face”, added the Prime Minister.

Algeria has had a rough financial year in 2022. As per the World Bank Inflation remained high—9.4 percent year-on-year during the first nine months of 2022 which notably led by the global rise in food prices (which increased by 13.6 percent in Algeria). Poorer households being the most impacted. The Algerian authorities responded by intensifying measures to protect the purchasing power, primarily by increasing civil service salaries, introducing unemployment benefits for young first-time job seekers, and strengthening subsidies for basic foodstuffs.

A look at the top MENA crypto blockchain Google search trends in 2022

A look at the top MENA crypto blockchain Google search trends in 2022

In 2022, it appears there is a high level of public interest from the number of online keyword searches for crypto, crypto payments, blockchain, metaverse, NFTs and other related terms. These keywords, for instance, are the top searches in Arab countries. This comes as no surprise as nations in the MENA region were among the list of countries receiving crypto, with the greater region becoming one of the regions that saw the most growth in crypto regulations.

According to Chainalysis, while the MENA region is one of the smallest crypto markets, its growth to $566 billion received in cryptocurrency between July 2021 and June 2022 shows adoption is rising rapidly.

UAE places 10th for highest search regions for ‘crypto’

As per Google Trends, there were high inquiries for the term “crypto” in the country from December 2021 to December 2022. The high volume of searches for “crypto” in the Arab state placed it at 10th, followed by Morocco at 11th place, Lebanon (17th) and Tunisia (38th). Several MENA countries placed high in search queries among 73 nations.

The UAE went up two places compared to the results of the Google Trend search for the same period in 2021. Before, the country was in 12th place out of the top 63 countries. Lebanon retained its position, while Saudi Arabia dropped out of the list in 2022. The Kingdom placed 45th in 2021.

The UAE has been at the forefront of crypto regulation and licensing. In 2022, it has awarded licenses to top crypto exchanges such as Binance, Kraken and Crypto.com, among other platforms, and it also welcomed hundreds of other crypto and blockchain firms.

In a Crypto Oasis annual report entitled, “Crypto Ecosystem in the UAE,” the country’s booming blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystem resulted in the employment of 7,000 people across 1,400 blockchain crypto entities currently operating in the country.

Lebanon is also no surprise, given its position as the third largest recipient of crypto in 2022, per a Chainalysis report.

Meanwhile, “Bitcoin” was the most searched keyword in terms of cryptocurrencies in the Arab world, beating “Ethereum.” Bitcoin took 80 percent of the searches, with the UAE settling at 22nd and Morocco at 50th among the top countries that have looked up the term.

In 2021, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt topped the list of countries that searched for Bitcoin. This could be in connection to Bitcoin being the most invested in cryptocurrency as well as the most volatile in 2022. At the time of writing, Bitcoin has a market cap of $323.1 billion, followed by Ethereum with $148 billion, according to the estimates by CoinMarketCap.

As for Ethereum, it was searched for most in the UAE and Lebanon among Arab countries in 2022. They are followed by Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Morocco.

Notably, only two Arab countries in 2022 had the biggest searches for crypto prices, namely the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Both the UAE and KSA are considered the biggest crypto trading markets in the GCC region. The 2022 Geography of Cryptocurrency report by Chainalysis found that Saudi Arabia was one of the strongest markets, with cryptocurrency transaction volumes surging 195 percent year-on-year.

Overall, the MENA region accounts for 9.2 percent of global cryptocurrency trading, up from 7 percent in 2021.

UAE only Arab country with high searches for ‘crypto payments’

The UAE took the number 2 slot globally in terms of regions with high volume searches for the term “crypto payments,” bested by only Nigeria. The list of 16 countries also included Singapore, the UK, the USA and Germany.

The introduction of the Dubai Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) and the openness in the UAE for crypto payments have fueled the curiosity of the community. The country’s friendly stance toward crypto has urged top real estate entities and luxury and F&B outlets to accept crypto as a payment method.

Search for ‘CBDC’ grew exponentially at end of 2022

While more countries explore the opportunities of adopting CBDCs, Google searches for the term surged in November 2022. In terms of countries with the highest searches, the UAE came in at 18th place out of the top 68 countries. Other Arab countries on the list were Morocco (47th), Egypt (65th), and Saudi Arabia (67th).

The UAE completed its first CBDC pilot mBridge this year and is expected to continue to move forward with its implementation.

Morocco and Egypt join regions with top searches for ‘blockchain’

Despite an overall decrease in “blockchain” searches this year, several Arab countries topped the list among 72 countries. The UAE took eighth place, followed by Tunisia (15th), Lebanon (17th), Morocco (21st), Egypt (73rd) and Saudi Arabia (74th).

Notably, Lebanon is looking into blockchain and crypto as a means to solve many of its economic and fiscal problems.

Lebanon: Takes 8th place in NFT searches in top search regions globally

The search for NFTs went down in 2022 compared to 2021. Regardless, NFT appears to be an interest to Lebanon residents, with the country placing in eighth place. Lebanon was followed by other Arab countries, such as Morocco (10th), UAE (11th), and Algeria (57th).

In 2021, the UAE placed seventh among the top 31 countries that searched for “Buy NFTs.” Meanwhile, in 2022, Lebanon came in second, passing the UAE, which placed fourth.

Lebanese artists have increasingly issued NFTs in 2022, with more Lebanon residents purchasing the asset to offset the declining Lebanese currency in addition to their growing interest in this crypto segment. Moreover, several Lebanese NFT marketplaces have launched this year, such as OasisX.

Top google searches for crypto exchanges in MENA

When it came to searches for “crypto exchange,” the UAE stood in fifth place, followed by Lebanon (27th), Morocco (45th) and KSA (47th) among the top 65 countries.

Notably, “Binance” topped the list of searches in 95 regions. In the Arab world, the exchange was mostly searched by people from the UAE (ninth), Morocco (15th), Lebanon (16th), Qatar (36th), Kuwait (45th) and Jordan (56th).

Binance has been ramping up its operations within the MENA region in 2022. Within the year, the largest exchange by trading volume received an MVP license in the UAE and a full operating license in Bahrain.

As for home-grown crypto exchanges, CoinMENA was searched for most in Iran, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman. . Meanwhile, BitOasis and CoinMENA were equally searched for in Oman.

BitOasis also topped the searches in Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait and Turkey. Noteworthy is that there were only 20 highest search regions for these terms.  BitOasis also had more searches in UAE and KSA than CoinMENA.

BitOasis has a strong presence in the UAE that dates back to pre-license days. According to BitOasis Founder Ola Doudin, they are actively working with regulators in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere across the region to introduce their respective crypto regulations.

UAE is the most metaverse-curious country globally in terms of searches

When it came to global searches for the term “metaverse,” the UAE came in second place, passing Singapore, which placed seventh. In Last year’s trends, there were almost no searches on Google for metaverse before October 2021.

In 2022, Dubai introduced its Metaverse Strategy, which aims to create 40,000 virtual jobs and add $4 billion to the emirate’s economy over the next five years.

Lebanon tops searches for crypto mining

Lebanon becomes the top Arab country in terms of searches for “crypto mining,” placing third. It’s followed by the UAE, Bahrain, Tunisia, Morocco, KSA and Egypt.

Notably, Lebanon had the highest number of crypto-mining activities. This spike can be attributed to residents turning to crypto mining as an alternative source of income, given the financial demise of the Lebanese Lira. Lebanon’s low electricity costs also made the country an ideal destination for crypto miners.

As for UAE, it is also one of the attractive hubs for crypto miners in the MENA region, given its open stance on crypto, as well as the projects being launched in the country.

In conclusion, while crypto had a bearish year in 2022, this was not reflected in the google search trends especially when it comes to Arab countries specifically in the GCC. The MENA region and GCC country residents have shown considerable interest in crypto, NFTs, metaverse, and blockchain. These search trends reflect a growing interest in the region for these technologies.

Looking at these trends one can imply that crypto mining in countries like Lebanon are a big part of the crypto ecosystem. It might also be inferred that crypto payments interest will continue to grow in the UAE as will CBDC interest.

The fact is that despite the tumultuous year that crypto and blockchain went through in 2022, we will see more of them in 2023 and it looks like the MENA and Arab region will lead.

Central Bank of Morocco ends 2022 with launch of draft crypto bill

Central Bank of Morocco ends 2022 with launch of draft crypto bill

On December 20th, the Central Bank of Morocco represented by its governor Abdellatif Jouahri announced in Rabat Morocco that the draft crypto bill to regulate the use of cryptocurrencies is ready.

The announcement was carried out at the press briefing following BAM’s 4th and final quarterly meeting of 2022. Jouahri stressed that the full draft is ready to put in place a proper regulatory framework.

Jouahri stated, “Discussions are to be held with all stakeholders, including the Moroccan Capital Markets Authority (AMMC) and the Insurance and Social Security Supervisory Authority (ACAPS),” 

“We proceeded to a specific definition of the cryptocurrency and prepared a general public survey that details the specifics and use of this virtual currency in Morocco,” he added.

In June 2022, The Central Bank of Morocco, Bank Al Maghrib, announced during its second quarterly meeting that it would be introducing a cryptocurrency bill soon. Abdul Latif Al Jawhari, Governor of Central Bank of Morocco noted that the crypto CBDC committee created in February 2022 is putting in place an appropriate regulatory framework to combine innovation, tech and consumer protection.

He also noted that the crypto bill is being benchmarked against global experiences with IMF and World Bank. He also noted that this regulatory framework will also update the legislation on the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.

In March 2022, during a session with media He revealed that the Central Bank of Morocco had created a council headed by him to oversee the required regulations for both cryptocurrencies and CBDCs. He stated, “We are in discussions with the Central Banks of friendly nations such as Switzerland, Sweden, and France as well as international financial institutions such as the IMF and World Bank to learn from their expertise and experience.”

Despite the fact that the Moroccan government considers crypto illegal in the country, Morocco has the highest number of crypto owners within the Arab region, followed closely by Egypt. 2.38 percent of Moroccan population own crypto.

UAE blockchain enterprise entity bags Pakistan New City deal

UAE blockchain enterprise entity bags Pakistan New City deal

UAE based Blockchain enterprise, Shaariq.com, an end-to-end real estate platform of Vision Tech has partnered with Pakistan-headquartered JK&S Developers, a real estate arm of the renowned Saif Group. to facilitate sales in JK&S Developers’ highly anticipated project D.I. Khan New City.

Shaariq.com will leverage its enterprise blockchain capabilities to ensure secure, transparent, and seamless transactions. Shaariq.com will also ensure D.I. Khan New City becomes an early mover in adopting blockchain at an enterprise level. Shaariq.com will create a digital twin of the project in the metaverse to enable efficient urban planning and optimize the delivery of public services such as healthcare and groceries. NFT linked transactions on the blockchain will bring greater security, transferability, and future readiness. D.I. Khan New City will also characterize AR-VR and AI applications on multiple fronts.

Dubbed the “Crown of Pakistan”, the D.I. Khan New City is a hybrid development in Saiduwali, Paharpur, an area with close proximity to Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad, and Balochistan. The development, which spans an expansive area of 4.1 million sq. m, is valued at a whopping $233 million U.S., making it one of the most ambitious projects of its kind in Pakistan.

Rajab Ali Virani, CEO of Vision Tech stated,  “Shaariq.com ventured into Pakistan with a grand vision: Enhancing transactional efficiency and reducing the trust deficit by leveraging cutting-edge technologies such as blockchain. D.I. Khan New City is the ideal avenue to turn that vision into reality. We are determined to make this project an archetype of Pakistan’s real estate excellence while reinforcing our competitive edge in tech-enabled services.”

 “The Saif Group has nearly a hundred years of multi-industrial pedigree in Pakistan. At every juncture, we have exemplified the latest innovations of the time. D.I. Khan New City is a totem of our future-proof strategy and a legacy of our people-centric worldview. The MoU with Shaariq.com complements both these priorities,” said Jehangir Saifullah Khan, Chairman, JK&S Developers. 

Vision Tech is planning an expansion into African countries, where, through Shaariq.com, it intends to digitalize land records with the support of local authorities.

Blockchain Valereum’s acquisition of Gibraltar Stock Exchange to help Middle East and African entities access crypto capital

Blockchain Valereum’s acquisition of Gibraltar Stock Exchange to help Middle East and African entities access crypto capital

UK based Blockchain company Valereum has received consent from the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (“GFSC”) to complete the acquisition of the Gibraltar Stock Exchange (“GSX”). Valereum will utilize GSX to expand access of early stage and small cap companies in the Middle East, India and Africa to European Capital.

In early 2022, Valereum stated that it would be purchasing 90% of the Gibraltar Stock Exchange (GSX) to create the world’s first bourse where shares and crypto assets can be traded

Valereum at the time stated that GSX would the first fully regulated bridge that links the fiat and crypto markets. As they noted at the time, “This will give listed instruments on the GSX access to a regulated pool of crypto capital that is not available anywhere else, and it will give cryptocurrency holders the ability to have a direct, verifiable holding in fiat securities.”

The recent press release notes that there is a significant gap in the available small cap markets where we will provide solutions building from the ecosystem of accelerators and incubators through a full suite of private and public markets. This will provide a new transnational access to capital.

In addition Valereum will be launching its NFT strategy in the first quarter of next year linking real world assets via NFT ownership.

Valereum also announced that its candidates for the new board of the GSX have all been approved by the GFSC. These appointments will officially take place with the completion of the change of control process. They include  Chairman: Richard Poulden, the Chairman of Valereum Plc., Executive Director: Patrick L Young, Chief Financial Officer: Jack Sun Non-Executive Directors will include Simon Brickles and James Lasry

The acquisition is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2023.

Chairman Richard Poulden noted, “We are delighted to have received this news from the GFSC and look forward to completing the acquisition of the GSX. It is auspicious to be announcing this on the day of the Gibraltar Financial Services Lunch in London. We have ambitious plans for the GSX and for Valereum linking the fiat and digital worlds. All our expansion plans will be fully regulated in the environments in which we plan to operate. The GSX will harness proven exchange technology from established providers and will be updated with full front to back trading and clearing functionality on a significant scale and expandability.”

He adds, “Just as The Rock of Gibraltar has been a physical port for centuries, GSX will encourage a new generation of companies and assets to see Gibraltar as a virtual node in financial trade. In time we will seek an international listing for the Valereum group as we see this as a compelling investment proposition.”

Central Bank of Egypt to fine crypto violators $516,000

Central Bank of Egypt to fine crypto violators $516,000

The central bank of Egypt has once again reiterated its warning against dealing in any types of cryptocurrencies, saying that crypto is risky, highly volatile, and is used in financial crimes and e-piracy.

In the Egypt independent article, the Central Bank of Egypt will fine anyone who violates the Law No 194 of 2020 which prohibits issuing, trading, promoting cryptocurrencies, operating crypto exchanges or any other related activities. The Central Bank will fine violators up to $516,000 ( 10 million LE) or face imprisonment.

The CBE statement reads, “Whoever violates this shall be imprisoned, and fined no less than one million pounds and no more than LE10 million ($516,340), or one of these two penalties.”

The Egyptian central bank issued a similar warning about cryptocurrencies in January 2018, specifically naming Bitcoin. At that time the Central Bank had noted, “Cryptocurrencies are not backed by any tangible assets and are not supervised by any regulators worldwide, and consequently, they lack the official governmental guarantee and support enjoyed by the other official currencies issued by central banks.”

Yet Egypt has one of the highest crypto usages across Africa and Middle East. In January 2022, TripleA published a report which noted that Morocco topped the Arab countries in terms of crypto ownership, followed by Egypt, then UAE and KSA.

The report stated that in 2021 global crypto ownership was estimated at an average of 3.9 percent, 300 million crypto users and 18,000 businesses already accepting crypto payments.

In addition as per the report there are 32 million crypto users in Africa, 160 million in Asia, 38 million in Europe, and 28 million in North America, while Latin America has 24 million users.

Morocco was reported as having 878,168 crypto owners which was 2.38 percent of the population. It was followed by Egypt which had 1, 791,185 million crypto owners at 1.75 percent of the population.

WadzPay teams up with DIFC Fintech Hive to offer blockchain payment features in the Metaverse

WadzPay teams up with DIFC Fintech Hive to offer blockchain payment features in the Metaverse

WadzPay, blockchain payments provider operating in the UAE, has teamed up with DIFC (Dubai International Financial Centre) Fintech Hive and Emirates NBD accelerator program, to offer payment features in the metaverse. This is a huge undertaking given that the metaverse economy is predicated to hit $13 trillion by 2030.  

Moreover this is especially significant in the UAE given that Dubai announced its metaverse strategy in July 2022. As per the strategy Dubai wants to attract 5000 blockchain and metaverse companies to the city by 2027. DIFC has been working through its regulatory arm DFSA to ensure the proper regulatory environment for crypto tokens, security tokens, and is considered by VARA as one of the entities that can house regulated companies in this sphere.

Raja Al Mazrouei, Executive VP of DIFC Fintech Hive was quoted saying, “The 10-week global accelerator programme for metaverse start-ups reaffirms our commitment to support Dubai’s ambition to be among the top 10 metaverse economies in the world.”

We all know that for the metaverse to be successful, payment services in the metaverse will not only have to be seamless but extremely secure as well as compliant. Each metaverse will have to have a robust payment method or it won’t be a fully functional experience.

Noteworthy as well is that Emirates NBD has stated that it intends to build up its 3D capabilities, creating virtual worlds to augment the customer experience and enabling a decentralised payment infrastructure for customers to create, monetise, buy and sell digital assets and services.

Now let’s put it all together, Dubai wants to be a metaverse hub; the UAE has already piloted a CBDC project not only with Saudi Arabia but also other central banks with the wholesale CBDC project Mbridge which is in partnership with BIS and Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Thailand and Central Bank of China. The Mbridge pilot has already commenced with commercial banks in 2022.

So far 105 countries across the globe are exploring CBDCs, with only 9 percent of countries having actually launched a CBDC.

For those not familiar with WadzPay, it is an interoperable and agnostic blockchain payments ecosystem that was founded in Singapore in 2018 but is currently operating across Asia and the Middle East with offices in UAE. As per their website, the company has been working with large payment companies, banks, on CBDC rollouts and digital assets transactions and settlements.

So when Anish Jain Founder & Group Chief Executive Officer of WadzPay announced on LinkedIn, that the company is working with DIFC Fintech hub and Emirates NBD accelerator program to enable financial services in the metaverse, it was newsworthy.  

LaraontheBlock, asked Jain what this meant and how they were working with DIFC, his reply, “WadzPay established its presence in UAE in 2020 with its DIFC entity. The DIFC FinTech hive provided tools to grow our business. It is also the breeding ground for innovation. WadzPay Chain is purpose built for payments and is metaverse ready. Together with the WadzPay payments ecosystem it will provide users with optionality, agility and access into the metaverse while making traditional payments efficient.”

In conclusion, maybe we will be witnessing the first complete financial service and payment offering in a metaverse experience within the UAE sooner than we think. A digital wallet that would or could hold CBDC, stablecoins, crypto that users in the metaverse could utilize for the purchase of digital assets or representations of physical assets as NFTs securely and compliantly.

We will know which start-ups have been chosen to implement these projects with Emirates NBD as they will be announced during Gitex2022.

 In the end it is only when you can garner valued economic activity in the metaverse will the metaverse actually have any sort of true utility.

On the side-lines, it was also interesting to see that WadzPay had signed a strategic partnership with FIGA an enterprise in the Republic of Congo to tokenize the rights of reserves of potash, phosphate and iron which will be extracted over the next 25 years. WadzPay is expected to tokenize $4 billion worth of assets for foreign direct investment.

WadzPay also partnered with Algorand Blockchain where it will utilize Algorand platform in multiple proof of concept-stage projects including Asia and Africa-based CBDC launches.

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.”