Bahrain EazyPay and Binance follow CoinMENA’s lead offering crypto payments in real estate

Bahrain EazyPay and Binance follow CoinMENA’s lead offering crypto payments in real estate

Bahrain real estate developer Bin Faqeeh Real estate Investment Company announced that clients can buy apartments or houses using cryptocurrencies. Bin Faqeeh will be offering crypto payment services with Bahrain financial service provider EazyPay POS terminals.

Binance Co-Founder and CEO, Changpeng Zhao tweeted about Bin Faqeeh Real Estate Company accepting Crypto Payments via Binance Pay through Eazy Financial Services. EazyPay and Binance had signed a partnership in Q4 2022 to offer crypto payment services to EazyPay’s 5000 plus POS terminals.

Prior to this Bahrain CoinMENA crypto broker partnered with Carlton Real Estate, a Bahrain-based real estate agency, allowing clients to buy real estate property using crypto assets. Under the partnership, Carlton real estate would accept stablecoins like USDT and USDC.

The UAE as well has been offering clients the ability to pay for real estate in cryptocurrencies. In May 2022 UAE Properties developer Nakheel and Abu Dhabi based crypto exchange Hayvn partnered to offer crypto payment options for Nakheel clients. Nakheel clients are able to pay for their rent, service fee, and real estate purchases in cryptocurrency.

Other real estate developers in UAE also are offering crypto payment services, such as DAMAC, SAMENA developers and more. In March UAE based Real estate and industry experts estimated that crypto payments for Dubai real estate increased by 300 percent in 2022. Majority of buyers are using stablecoins such as Tether, USDT as well as Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Even UAE Property Consultancy firm, Your place partnered with Utrust, a cryptocurrency payment solution designed to modernize the finance and payments industry offers clients the ability to pay for properties in Dubai UAE using cryptocurrencies. Recently Utrust is now enabling crypto payments for luxury hotels in the UAE. BM Hotels & Resorts luxury hotel chain is accepting digital currencies using Utrust.

50 percent of MENA VCs surveyed to increase investments in blockchain and crypto projects in 2023

50 percent of MENA VCs surveyed to increase investments in blockchain and crypto projects in 2023

In a recent survey entitled “MENA Investor Survey 2022-2023 for crypto Blockchain sector” carried out by laraontheblock with 83 MENA venture capitalists, fund managers, and family offices, 50% of those surveyed stated they will be allocating more funds to blockchain and crypto projects and entities in 2023. 19% of those surveyed stated in 2022 they had invested more than 50% of allocated capital and funds into crypto and Blockchain projects.

The findings of the “MENA Investor Survey 2022-2023 for crypto Blockchain sector” sheds light on the different areas of interest for MENA investors which will give startups and entities a better view on whom and where capital will be heading by investors in the MENA region.

This comes as cryptocurrency adoption has skyrocketed in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. According to a survey by blockchain analytics platform Chainalysis, MENA countries have the fastest-growing cryptocurrency industry in the world, accounting for 9.2% of global digital currency transactions from July 2021 to June 2022.

Vast Majority of MENA VCs invested in crypto and Blockchain in 2022

75% of survey respondents confirmed that they invested in crypto and blockchain entities in 2022, while only 25% stated they hadn’t. The MENA region has become the center for crypto trading, investing and regulation. The UAE led crypto regulation in 2022 and was the first country in the region to launch a blockchain strategy back in 2017.

The stance taken by MENA investors in the survey is in line with global figures. In 2022, despite the slowdown in crypto VC funding, it exceeded the figure for 2021. Cointelegraph Research’s VC Database showed that a total of $36.1 billion was raised in 2022. This is in contrast to the $30.3 billion worth of funding in 2021.

Crypto projects globally attracted $19.9 billion in venture capital (VC) investments in the first nine months of 2022, 41% higher than a year ago, according to Pitchbook data.

Crypto and Blockchain entities are the Future

54% of respondents replied that they invested in crypto and Blockchain entities because it is the future, while 42% stated it was because these technologies solve real business problems. Only 18% believed that it was because while risky the return on investment was high. ( note that more than one response for some respondents

The MENA region witnessed sizable investments in crypto and Blockchain entities in 2022. For example crypto exchange RAIN received $110 million in investments and included investors from MENA such as MEVP. BitOasis also raised $30 million with UAE based Wamda Capital and others.

Significant developments in the UAE such as the launch of Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), and the announcement of the Dubai metaverse strategy, which aims to attract more than 1,000 blockchain and metaverse companies as well as support more than 40,000 virtual jobs by 2030 has also played a role in enticing investors towards blockchain, crypto and metaverse as did the launch of Crypto Oasis ecosystem and the DMCC crypto center bringing in 1400 crypto and Blockchain entities to the

19% of surveyed spent over 50% of their capital on Blockchain and crypto entities

Interestingly when asked what percentage of capital or funds available in 2022 was invested in crypto and blockchain, a whopping 19 percent stated that they had invested more than 50 percent of funds into crypto and Blockchain entities. While the majority 33% invested between 5-15% of their capital into crypto and blockchain entities. 

27% invested between 1-5 percent of their capital into crypto and Blockchain, while 21% invested less than 1%. 

While the percentages maybe small compared to other areas, Nickel Digital Asset Management noted that UAE institutional investors, family offices, and wealth managers plan to increase their exposure to crypto dramatically by 2023. And while sovereign funds do not yet see digital assets as investable with just 7% of global sovereign investors have any exposure to digital assets through investments in blockchain companies, this is changing.

In May 2022, J.P. Morgan’s global investment strategy outlook elevated digital assets as the preferred alternative asset class alongside hedge funds for 2022. For the first time in history digital assets displaced other alternative strategies. In the report it is noted that digital assets are expected to offer the greatest potential for generating alpha and hedge funds expect as much as 10 percent of their strategy to include crypto.


A PWC Global Crypto Hedge Fund report in August 2022, found that more than a third of traditional hedge funds now invest in digital assets, this was double the figure of 2021

Global crypto leader at PWC left his role to set up a $75 million digital assets fund Nine Blocks Capital in Dubai UAE. Henri Arsalanian, founder noted that it was Dubai’s crypto openness that influenced his decision. 

Majority of MENA Investors invested in Blockchain infrastructure

MENA investors surveyed were asked where they allocated funds in 2022. 64% of respondents stated that capital was invested in Blockchain infrastructure projects. Following Blockchain infrastructure was DeFi. 38% of respondents stated they allocated funds to DeFi projects. Equally 33-36% invested in metaverse and crypto assets.

In addition 22% replied they invested in Non-Fungible tokens or NFT projects, while 17-18% of respondents stated investments went into e-gaming, tokenization projects, crypto mining and blockchain crypto payments.

Only 8% stated they invested in decentralized messaging and social media platforms. 

The findings of the survey fall much in line with Cointelegraph’ s recent blockchain funding VC report which found that blockchain Infrastructure projects took half the pot of investments in November 2022. While the Web3 sector saw the most deals closed. The global blockchain infrastructure sector secured $483.9 million in venture capital in 2022.

According to Galaxy Ventures, Crypto and Blockchain sector saw $5.5 billion of venture capital invested in Q3 2022 through 518 deals. Despite the QoQ (quarter on quarter) decrease, the $5.5 billion invested in Q3 is $2 billion greater than the 7-year average of $3.1 billion and more than $2 billion higher than the 2020 peak.

MENA investors will invest more in 2023

51% of those surveyed stated they would allocate more funds to blockchain and crypto entities in 2023. Only 15% replied they would not. In addition 33% were unsure. This means that potentially 84% of those surveyed could be investing more in blockchain and crypto in 2023. 

Already investment companies such as TradeDog Group, the parent company of TD VC, have launched new funds. TradeDg Group launched their $100 Million Web3 blockchain special situation fund. The fund will re-structure and invest in projects with good products and businesses but struggling token markets.

Even UAE Cypher Capital VC announced in December 2022 the launch of a new $200 million fund which will focus on infrastructure and middleware investments in Web3. At the time they had invested in Rekt Studios and Fenix Games, while UAE Shorooq Partners also announced in March 2022 that they would be investing $150 million in Web3 startups. Many other investors across the MENA region have been following suite including Mubadala and G42 both based out of UAE.

Global players such as Goldman Sachs plans to spend tens of millions of dollars to buy or invest in crypto companies after the collapse of the FTX exchange hit valuations and dampened investor interest. Goldman has invested in 11 digital asset companies that provide services such as compliance, cryptocurrency data and blockchain management.

MENA investors view Blockchain infrastructure as biggest growth sector in 2023

According to 29% of survey respondents, Blockchain infrastructure projects will witness the biggest growth in 2023. Data gathered by BuyShares.co.nz, found that the global spending on blockchain solutions is expected to surge by 235% and reach $14.4bn by 2023.

Following, 21% view metaverse projects as high growth sector technology. This is in line with findings from Grand View Research, which states the global metaverse market is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39.4% from 2022 to 2030. 

Meanwhile 18%  of those surveyed think DeFi will witness strong growth. DeFi has been the largest market cap activity within Web3, with a peak total value locked (TVL) of over $175 billion in 2021 shrinking to $39 billion in 2022. Yet Digital asset research firm Reflexivity Research in its recently published 2022 Annual Year in Review / Forward Outlook 2023 believes that given the blow to trust in CEXs, investors will be drawn to decentralized alternatives. The report believes DeFi TVL could make its way back to $75 billion or $100 billion.

12% of those surveyed view blockchain and crypto payments as one of the growth sectors for 2023. Cross-border payments and settlements are considered the most prominent blockchain use case. According to the IDC Worldwide Blockchain Spending Guide, Blockchain enabled cross border payments accounted for 15.9% of the $4.67-billion blockchain market in 2021. Juniper Research estimates that B2B cross-border payments on blockchain will account for 11% of the total B2B international payments by 2024.

When it comes to investment in tokenization projects 8% of those surveyed believe that tokenization sector will be a growth sector in 2023. 5% of those surveyed believe NFT sector will grow in 2023, only 3% of those surveyed believe crypto mining will be a growth sector.

Conclusion

In conclusion from the responses of 83 VCs, investment funds, across the MENA region that included names such as Oman Investment Authority, Equinox, Synaptech Capital, CypherCapital, Helion Ventures, Carter Capital, AlIImtiaz Investment Group, True Global Ventures, Roshan Investments, Crypto Oasis, Ghaf Capital Investments, Vault Investments, and many more, the reflection is a positive outlook when it comes to crypto and Blockchain and a growing interest in investing in projects. So while 2022 might have been one of the toughest years on crypto and Blockchain, it has not killed the appetite of investors in MENA!

Bahrain telecom operator and Ericsson deploy Blockchain project management platform

Bahrain telecom operator and Ericsson deploy Blockchain project management platform

Ericsson  and Bahrain telecom operator, Batelco, part of the Beyon Group, have deployed Blockchain enabled Ericsson Customer Acceptance platform.  As per the press release, the customer acceptance platform is  an enterprise blockchain solution for the automated collection of acceptance records upon fulfilment of agreed project deliverables. Batelco is the first telecommunication service provider to deploy the solution.

 

Ericsson Customer Acceptance (ECA) provides significant and impactful results to the customer acceptance process. It reduces the time spent on acceptance-related activities per site by up to 42 percent, thereby achieving faster time-to-market with accuracy. ECA also simplifies the process by providing a single interface for submitting and approving acceptance documents and displaying real-time status of every acceptance item submitted to the platform. Combined with other services and software capabilities, ECA also helps reduce CO2 emissions by removing the need for on-site customer visits to complete the acceptance process.

 

Batelco General Manager Technology Rashed Mohamed stated, ” Batelco is at the forefront of technological innovation, constantly seeking new ways to attain efficiency and effectiveness. We are proud to be the first telecommunication service provider to deploy the Ericsson Customer Acceptance platform. Within a short period of time, we have witnessed the benefits of deploying it. By simplifying our daily activities and achieving quicker installations and project completions, we can bring the latest technologies to our customers more efficiently.. We commend Ericsson for constantly offering new technological solutions that benefit the operations of their customers.”

 

Apart from enabling site quality assurance and improving the acceptance flow, blockchain secures the integrity of acceptance documentation and enables transparency and traceability between the parties involved.

 

Nicolas Blixell, Vice President, and Head of Ericsson GCC at Ericsson, added, “The Ericsson Customer Acceptance solution aims to provide speed, accuracy, sustainability, and efficiency to the operations between Ericsson and our customers. It strengthens trust, adds immutability and security, and provides full traceability end-to-end. Deploying the Ericsson Customer Acceptance solution with Batelco has demonstrated the benefits and efficiencies that can be achieved in a quick, secure, and resourceful manner. We look forward to future implementations of this blockchain-based solution to drive innovation and customer satisfaction. “

Former CEO of Bahrain Fintech Bay joins Fasset digital asset exchange for MENA

Former CEO of Bahrain Fintech Bay joins Fasset digital asset exchange for MENA

Fasset digital asset exchange has appointed the former CEO of Bahrain Fintech Bay as General Manager for MENA region. Fasset digital asset exchange seeks to empower the next billion with new ways to own connect and share digital assets.

Khalid brings a track record of success as the former CEO and board member of Bahrain FinTech Bay, where he led the development and growth of Bahrain FinTech Bay into a leading fintech hub in the Middle East. Prior to his appointment, Khalid held various leadership positions in the financial services industry, focused on investment banking, market risk management and technology, where he was previously Vice President at J.P. Morgan and Barclays Capital in London.

Fasset announced a partnership with Mastercard, which has chosen the company for its Start Path program to promote the adoption of crypto and blockchain technology, the firm announced on Nov. 3.

“We are thrilled to welcome Khalid to the Fasset team and are confident that his experience and leadership will be invaluable as we continue to drive innovation and growth in the digital asset space” said Daniel Ahmed, COO, Fasset.

Khalid added, “I am thrilled to be joining Fasset at this pivotal time in the evolution of finance through digital assets. I look forward to driving our vision and building out the web3 ecosystem by creating opportunities for digital asset ownership, utilization, and ultimately empowering the region..”

UAE to issue stablecoin for payments legislation soon and maybe even DeFi

UAE to issue stablecoin for payments legislation soon and maybe even DeFi

As per a recent PWC Crypto regulation report 2023, the UAE has finalized its crypto regulation, includes AML/ CTF Money laundering and counter terrorist financing rules as well as its travel rule and has already prepared the stablecoin regulation for payments which is awaiting final legislation. ( refer to graph page 8 of report).

For those not familiar with the travel rule, it is a Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) rule [31 CFR 103.33) which requires all financial institutions to pass on certain information to the next financial institution, in certain funds transmittals involving more than one financial institution.

This PwC Global Crypto Regulation 2023 report provides an overview of the crypto regulation landscape, with a focus on financial services. It offers insights into how the regulatory frameworks are developing across the world and seeks to identify how this may impact relevant industry participants and virtual service providers within the financial services sector.

The report notes that UAE authorities are assessing their approach to areas including stablecoins and wider DeFi.

In addition as per the report, the Central Bank of UAE is establishing its position in communicating permissible virtual asset activities to local banks. These include opening accounts for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) better known as crypto exchanges. 

 UAE Securities Commodities Authority with its Decision on Crypto Assets Activities Regulation (CAAR), regulates the offering, issuing, listing and trading of crypto assets in onshore UAE. This includes the initial coin offering exchanges, marketplaces, crowdfunding platforms, custodian services and related financial services based upon or leveraging crypto assets.

In December 2022 the UAE Cabinet updates some of its legislations including those pertaining to virtual business and virtual assets allowing them to be regulated onshore.

As for the rest of the GCC and Arab countries, the report notes that Bahrain has implemented crypto regulations and AML/CTF  yet has not implemented neither the travel rule nor stablecoin regulations for payments.

Jordan, Kuwait, and Oman have not initiated a crypto regulation process, while KSA and Qatar have prohibited cryptocurrencies.

It is interesting that while the report for example considers that Oman has not initiated the crypto regulation process, Oman had announced in 2021 that it was launching through the Central Bank a high level Oman cryptocurrency task force to study the economic advantages and disadvantages of authorizing the use of cryptocurrencies in the country.

In January 2022 Oman capital markets Authority announced a tender for specialized companies to assist in setting up a legislative and regulatory framework for virtual assets and licensing supervision and regulations of Virtual assets service providers within the Sultanate of Oman. Since then no other announcements have been made.

Both Bahrain and Oman have allowed crypto payments to be made in the country through virtual asset providers. Oman based, cryptocurrency broker, Easy Coins launched its trial of Tether USDT on the Tron Blockchain. Accordingly Easy Coin users in Oman can now purchase TRC20 USDT. At the end of 2021 there were 43 thousand registered crypto wallet addresses in Oman.

In the meantime even stablecoins are being trialled in Oman. The Oman Water and Waste Water Services Company (OWWSC), member of Nama Group, to trial a stablecoin linked to the Oman Riyal. The company signed an MOU with Oman based Digital Digits, the creators of Easy coins and Connected Chains to trial “ Hasalah” a stablecoin Wallet.

While in Bahrain EazyPay, a payments solution provider partnered with Binance’s Binance Pay to launch a regulated and approved crypto payments service offering in the Kingdom.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia crypto traders and investors are growing despite the ban on cryptocurrencies and the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia has created a division to study implementation of virtual assets and CBDCs. In 2022, Qatar announced the introduction of its blockchain blueprint for the country.

So while regulations are essential for the growth of crypto ecosystem, and the UAE is leading in this regards, it doesn’t mean that crypto is not being utilized in other countries regardless of their regulatory status. 

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.

UAE Blockchain farmer marketplace merges with Bahrain BeanBoat

UAE Blockchain farmer marketplace merges with Bahrain BeanBoat

UAE Farmsent, a blockchain platform for farmers and producers where they can directly supply goods to the consumers, has merged with Bahrain Beanboat, pioneers of coffee direct-trade in MENA.

BeanBoat created Bahrain’s first coffee subscriptions service. Their offerings brought coffee shops and roasters some of the best and rarest coffee in the world owing to their extensive network of farmers in Colombia.

Beanboat has merged with Farmsent allowing them to tap on Farmsent’s extensive reach with clients in the MENA regions and network farmers in Colombia, and combining it with the power of Web3 of Farmsent’s network to push for the next generation of trade.

Yog Shrusti, CEO and Co-Founder of Farmsent stated, “Our mission at Farmsent is to connect farmers directly with people who are looking for quality, sustainable, traceable products. With Beanboat’s knowledge of the MENA region, we will continue to lead the way in bringing people across the region together around sustainable living. With this merger, and combined with Farmsent’s ongoing efforts in Indonesia, we aim to foster and leverage on the community of coffee farmers in Colombia and provide them access to more regions and more clients. More importantly, farmers of a different variety of produce will now have the opportunity to directly trade with clients in the MENA region. On the other side, distributors and wholesale buyers will have access to an extensive network of farmers in Colombia to ensure supply and QA of their product lines.”

 Saleh Sharif, CEO and Co-Founder of Beanboat added, “We are very excited to collaborate with Farmsent. As we aim to make the supply chain more transparent, I feel the scalability issues that were obvious in our coffee trading are now even more apparent. Beanboat will add more SKUs than coffee and bring transparency to our supply chain. With the advent of blockchain technology, we safely look forward to our new collaboration!”

Dubai MAG developer accepts stablecoin payments using CoinMENA

Dubai MAG developer accepts stablecoin payments using CoinMENA

Dubai developer MAG is accepting stablecoins in property transactions utilizing the services offered by Bahrain-based crypto company CoinMENA. Stablecoins USDT and USDC will now be accepted by MAG in response to investor demand, the developer said.

Talal Moafaq Al Gaddah, senior executive vice chairman of MAG, which recently announced an $817 million “bio living” residential development in Meydan, Dubai,stated, “As a catalyst for Dubai’s real estate industry, we will spare no effort to progress upon the emirate’s digital economy and consolidate its prominent global position.”

This is the second real estate developer to team up CoinMENA. Last month it partnered with Carlton Real Estate, a Bahrain-based real estate agency, allowing investors to purchase real estate property using crypto assets. Under the partnership, the real estate broker would accept stablecoins like USDT and USDC.

 Talal Tabbaa and Dina Sam’an, founders of CoinMENA, a crypto asset service provider, said the agreement showed the growth of crypto adoption in acquiring ‘real world’ assets.

Saudi Telecom in Bahrain first telecom operator in GCC to accept crypto payments

Saudi Telecom in Bahrain first telecom operator in GCC to accept crypto payments

stc Bahrain has become the first telecom operator in Bahrain to accept cryptocurrencies through its partnership with Eazy Financial Services, a leading Bahraini Payment Services provider specializing in POS and online payment gateway. EazyPay uses BinancePay and wallet to offer this service to more than 5000 POS terminals in Bahrain. 

The collaboration with Eazy Financial Services is a strategic step from stc Bahrain towards expanding the payment options with the future of currency to address the increasing demand for flexible and easy-to-use crypto payments. 

stc Bahrain CEO Nezar Banabeela, stated, “Rapid digitization across the globe is transforming all aspects of our lives, and payments are the most crucial element. From online shopping and streaming videos to money transfers, almost every digital activity relies on a payment system. We are incredibly proud to be the first telecom operator in Bahrain to accept cryptocurrency payments, a demonstration of our strong focus on advancing Bahrain’s fintech sector as world-class digital enablers. We continue to leverage the potential of the digital economy, which is limitless, make accepting crypto a seamless process and increase adoption as crypto is the future of payments.”

Nayef Tawfiq Al Alawi, Founder & CEO of Eazy Financial Services, added,”  We are very proud today to become the partners of STC Bahrain, The world-class digital enabler. This Partnership enables stc Bahrain to be the first telecom operator in the Kingdom to accept cryptocurrency payments in a regulated, secure and extremely fast manner. The benefits of bringing in EazyPay to STC Bahrain will ensure simple and effective transaction journeys for customers, with a partner which is able to ensure first-class service.” 

While, Tameem Al Moosawi, General Manager at Binance Bahrain, said:  “stc is known to be at the forefront of technology and innovation and, with this partnership, has set the benchmark for how telecom operators can enable the transition to the Web3 economy by accepting crypto payments. We are excited to be collaborating in this space to streamline services for customers and is once again a testament to Bahrain’s progressive regulatory framework and banking structure” 

tAt the same time Bahrain Kuwait Insurance Co (GIG Bahrain) has signed a payment services agreement with Eazy Financial Services ‘EazyPay’, Bahrain’s leading and most innovative payment services provider to allow for crypto payments  via ‘Binance App’, which is regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain, making GIG Bahrain the first insurance company in the Mena region to accept premium payments as crypto assets payments in  regulated, secure and extremely fast manner.

Which homegrown MENA crypto exchanges will do proof of reserve and who was exposed to FTX

Which homegrown MENA crypto exchanges will do proof of reserve and who was exposed to FTX

It all started with the FTX downfall and then Binance’s Co-Founder and CEO call for crypto exchanges to carry out proof of reserves. Since then crypto exchanges such as Binance and crypto.com have provided wallets addresses tied to company wallets while Nansen blockchain analytics firm is creating a display of crypto exchange proof of reserves dashboard that currently includes Binance, crypto.com, OkX, Kucoin, Deribit, Bitfinex, Github, and others.

But what are locally homegrown crypto exchanges in MENA doing. Will they carry out proof of reserves, do they see it as the solution to bring trust back to crypto exchanges, and who has exposure to FTX?  

MENA Crypto Exchanges and Proof of Reserves

Bahrain based CoinMENA Talal Tabbaa and Dina Sama’an when asked by LaraontheBlock about if they will be doing proof of reserves stated, “This FTX news is a major setback for our industry and highlights the importance of regulation. This is why CoinMENA was established under the Central Bank of Bahrain, with a robust regulatory framework and compliance requirements. We go through regular audits and have to submit periodic reports to the regulators. More importantly, we keep our user funds in segregated accounts and we don’t offer leverage or margin which severely increases the risk profile of an exchange. We see crypto as a long-term investment and will continue to manage our risk prudently to build a sustainable and profitable business.”

Tabbaa adds, “CoinMENA is also reaching out to Nansen who is heading this effort globally to see the best way for it to be done.”

UAE regulated BitOasis CEO Ola Doudin states, “We believe that locally regulated platforms that follow industry best practices with proper oversight and supervision by their local regulators is the best way to ensure consumer protection and proper risk management practices.”

Vasja Zupan, President of UAE based Matrix Exchange in a reply to the question of whether they will do proof of reserves states, “We simply hold 1:1 client assets in our custody that is literally reconciled daily and regularly reported and checked by regulator and external auditors.”

Basil Askari Co-Founder of UAE MidChains has a similar reply, “In terms of proof of reserves we are already doing this on a daily basis with our regulator by providing daily client account reconciliations.”

Ola Doudin in her reply to this question stated, “BitOasis holds client assets in segregated client money accounts and custody environments. We’re an audited company that maintains the highest level of security and industry practices in storing and maintaining client assets one to one backed. We do not engage in any fractional reserve practices, proprietary trading, lending, and borrowing and we do not have an exchange token.”

Christopher Flinos, Chief Executive Officer of Hayvn crypto exchange in UAE “We already do proof of reserves. Our client’s crypto stays in segregated client wallets and our clients have always had access to their reserves. The firm in addition keeps shareholder funds in USD We hold no treasury in any coins not even stablecoins.”

Will Proof of reserves bring trust back to crypto exchanges?

Zupan believes that proof of reserves is totally useless without “proof of liabilities”. As he explains, “Proof of reserves alone should not bring trust back without 3rd party reviews and regulatory oversight over centralized services. I believe that CeFi needs a strong regulatory overview in combination with strong transparency and DeFi needs total transparency with independent reviews (not everyone can evaluate complex software and framework).”

Basil Askari co-founder of MidChains believes it is not enough to publish numbers. He explains, “Regulation and strict supervision by regulators on how client funds are used, is and has always been critical, as in TradeFi.”

Talal Tabbaa believes that the way crypto exchanges are carrying out proof of reserves at the moment is missing an important element. He explains, “In accounting when you provide information on your assets, you also provide information on your liabilities. Crypto exchanges need to do both proof of reserves and proof of liabilities preferably on a blockchain in real-time.”

Flinos agrees that with the current behavior of crypto exchange leadership trust is continuing to be damaged and what is need is strong regulation, control and corporate governance.

Exposure to FTX

In the past both CoinMENA and BitOasis had in their investment rounds received investment from FTX Ventures through Alameda Research. As such CoinMENA in a joint statement from both Talal Tabbaa and Dina Sam’an, Co-Founders, to LaraontheBlock clarified the following:  “FTX’s Investment arm Alameda Research invested $1 million in CoinMENA’s $9.5m seed funding round in 2021. All the funds were received prior to the close of the seed round. Their stake is less than 3% and has no voting rights. In light of the recent news, we have offered to buy back their minority stake.”

BitOasis also made a public blog post where it stated the following: “BitOasis confirms that it has no commercial relationship or exposure with Alameda Research (Alameda) or any other FTX entity. Accordingly, recent events at FTX and Alameda do not have any bearing on our business, or our ability to provide our customers with a safe and secure trading experience. In 2021, Alameda participated in BitOasis’ Series B financing round. As a result of its investment Alameda holds a 2.2% shareholding in BitOasis through Alameda Ventures Limited. Alameda is not represented (nor has it ever been) on BitOasis’ board of directors or on any governance forum or committee in any capacity. The shareholding is small and hence creates no exposure to our business.”

Matrix, Hayvn and MidChains founders confirm that they have zero exposure to FTX. Zupan stated, “We don’t have any exposure to FTX or any related party or similar protocols.” Al Askari as well confirmed, “Both our client funds and corporate assets are not exposed. We keep our (and our clients) funds in a safe boring 1:1 holding.” Flinos confirmed that they do not deal with unregulated counterparts.

Two crypto exchanges, RAIN in Bahrain and Veromex in UAE have not yet replied to the queries posed, if and when they do reply, their responses will be added.

Take Away

While up until now international exchanges have always looked more attractive because of their liquidity and the amount of crypto they list as well as their geographic coverage, it seems that those regulated in the region whether in UAE or Bahrain are looking more attractive because of their adherence to strong regulatory bodies.

A lot of news is coming out that international exchanges undertaking so called proof of reserves are not being transparent. For example Crypto.com’s cold storage revealed a suspicious transfer of 320,000 Ether worth $404 million, to Gate.io.  Kris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com assured traders that the transfer was accidental; funds were to be moved to a new cold storage address. Experts allege that the transfer helped Gate.io show its proof of reserves of user funds shortly after the transfer. Even more so it seems that 20 percent of crypto.com reserves are in Meme Token SHBB.

This also happened with Huobi. It was noted that after Huobi released the asset snapshot of the asset reserve, 10,000 ETH was transferred from Huobi to Binance and OkX deposit wallets. (Etherscan.io)

Binance CEO CZ also made an interesting tweet today November 13th 2022 where he says Binance is not just a CEX (Centralized Exchange). This comes as the crypto mood globally moves towards DEX (Decentralized Exchanges). In his tweet he gives advice on how to store crypto in your own wallet, and refers to trustwallet while saying that Binance is not just a CEX but provides other options.

In the end, the future is in decentralized exchanges, smart contracts, and blockchain databases for proof of reserves such as Etherscan.io and others. Crypto was never the culprit, it was molding crypto into a traditional financial sector that was.