UAE Fils fintech platform launches employing Blockchain for digital payments

UAE Fils fintech platform launches employing Blockchain for digital payments

UAE Homegrown Fils fintech platform which employs blockchain launched prior to Cop28 to integrate sustainable values into the core of digital payments.

Fils aims to bring together buyers with capital and suppliers with high integrity carbon credits.

Nameer Khan, the founder of Fils and chairman of the Mena Fintech Association (MFTA), has designed along with his team a holistic, enterprise-grade B2B2C product offering, Fils leverages the power of leading technologies including Blockchain for its end-to-end infrastructure to transform various industries, including financial services, hospitality, and e-commerce.

This makes it easier for businesses to act on the core values of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG), said Khan, adding that major partnerships with some of the leading names in the industry would be announced soon.

Khan said Fils is poised to transform the world of ESG, through an API-first digital payment infrastructure that makes sustainability a lifestyle and can be easily embedded into platforms across sectors. He stated, “Fils is a catalyst for the evolution of ESG enforcement and has the right team, technology, experience and expertise to lead the market. With our robust infrastructure, it spells the end of greenwashing and clears a path towards greater accountability and implementation of actionable outcomes that can improve the sustainability of the world we live in.”

Prior to this UAE Ghad Capital partners celebrated the launch of Fils which they stated employed blockchain and AI for a transparent secure payment infrastructure, supporting 17 UN SDGs.

Animoca Brands invests in UAE gaming startup Farcana to introduce Bitcoin ordinals

Animoca Brands invests in UAE gaming startup Farcana to introduce Bitcoin ordinals

Animoca Brands, early investors in The Sandbox, has invested in UAE gaming startup Farcana, to advance digital property rights for gaming and the metaverse fueling Farcana’s beta launch and development within the Bitcoin Ecosystem with Free Mint Bitcoin ordinals.

Built with Unreal Engine 5, Farcana is a team arena third person shooter that offers competitive tournaments backed by permanent Bitcoin prize pools and will be one of the first AAA Web3 games to introduce its “Free Mint” Bitcoin ordinals. The game has attracted over 40,000 users and is planning new tournaments based on initial playtests in Dubai.

The majority of the new capital will be used for the enhancement of Farcana and its integration within the Bitcoin ecosystem, as the project gears up for a token launch and full game release earlier next year.

Animoca Brands, a Hong Kong-based Web3 industry leader, has been collaborating with Farcana on tokenomics and go-to-market strategy since Q2 2023. With the investment announced today Animoca Brands maintains its strong level of activity in the MENA region, following the Web3 leader’s recently announced strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia’s NEOM.

Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, praised Farcana’s progress and commented: “We have been working with Farcana over the past year and we’ve been impressed with the development and traction it’s received so far. Our strategic investment into Farcana is part of the vision of Animoca Brands to drive Web3 development in MENA; the region is rapidly modernizing and adopting emerging technologies, and we’re excited to support partners such as Farcana as they actively lead the sector and bring exciting products to market.”

Ilman Shazhaev, founder and CEO of Farcana, shared his impressions about the strategic investment from Animoca Brands, stating: “We did amazing work with the Animoca Brands advisory team this year. With the redesign of our tokenomics, improvements within the in-game economy, documentation, and go-to-market strategy, we had tremendously productive team-to-team collaboration. Sometimes I would forget that we were working in different companies. This strategic investment from Animoca Brands is definitely a significant milestone for Farcana. During the bear market, we were fully focused on building and delivering one of the best games in web3, and we are incredibly excited to bring it to the market next year.”

Early Investor and supporter resigns from UAE based Venom Blockchain

Early Investor and supporter resigns from UAE based Venom Blockchain

In a surprise move, Mustafa Kheriba, the Executive Chairman of Venomex, a UAE regulated crypto exchange and one of the initial investors and supporters of UAE based Venom Blockchain Foundation has resigned from his position at Venom Foundation.

Sources in the know confirmed this to LaraontheBlock, however Mr. Kheriba would not comment when asked about the reasons for resignation.

Prior to this in August 2023, the CEO of Venomex, Arshad Khan also resigned his position at the crypto exchange and is now a partner at UAE based Fils.

Venomex Limited is a Multilateral Trading Facility and Custodian, based in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and received FSP from Financial Services Regulatory Authority of ADGM. Venomex as such became a regulated, crypto asset exchange and custodian in the region that focuses on institutional and retail investors. The Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) has given FSP to establish and operate a full-fledged MTF and digital custodian.

In terms of Venom Foundation, its chairman and Co Founder Peter Knez the former CIO at BlackRock & ex Goldman Sachs executive has been active, recently speaking at the Genesis XBT event. The event brought together market-makers, VCs, and mining industry leaders in EMEA & CIS’s leading crypto gathering. According to Knez, “ It was a fantastic opportunity for the Venom team to connect, share, and learn in the vibrant hub of Dubai’s blockchain community!”

Venom Foundation earlier this year in January had launched in partnership with Iceburg Capital a $1 billion Venom Ventures Fund.

Venom Foundation, is a  Layer-1 blockchain licensed and regulated by the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), and Iceberg Capital is an ADGM regulated investment manager. The Venom Ventures fund is a blockchain-agnostic fund that was targeting  innovative protocols and Web3 dApps, focusing on long-term trends such as payments, asset management, DeFi, banking services, and GameFi.

At the time the fund’s leadership team consisted of Peter Knez, ex-CIO at BlackRock and Mustafa Kheriba, but now given that Kheirba has resigned, it would seem he will no longer be involved in the fund as well.

Mustafa had served on the Board of Directors of several financial services and insurance companies prior to Venom Blockchain Foundation.

Venom Blockchain Foundation back in October 2022 became the first ADGM licensed crypto foundation to build a scalable blockchain platform. ADGM at the time stated, “Venom is on its way to developing an NFT marketplace, derivative exchange and fiat-backed stablecoin.”

Yet to date Venom Foundation’s only achievement was an MOU signed with the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and environment to launch the first blockchain enabled national system for carbon credits, as well as the launch of their testnet.

Venom Foundation also faced some challenges in 2023 with regards to one of its early investors Alibek Garcia Issaev, which is said to have involved a UAE court case against him.

Whatever the case, it seems Venom Foundation is facing big challenges when one of its early supporters and investors resigns.

The article was updated at 14:34 Monday 27th 2023.

Genesis Technologies joins QFC digital assets Lab for Blockchain use cases

Genesis Technologies joins QFC digital assets Lab for Blockchain use cases

Henk Jan Hoogendoorn has confirmed that Qatar Genesis Technologies, a Qatar University tech spinoff is working with Qatar Financial Center Authority on possible use cases in their digital assets labs.

Lebanese-Canadian national Mazen El Masri, Co-Founder and CEO of Genesis Technologies, the tech company which developed Maxya, is working with QFC digital assets labs on several blockchain use cases.

As per the post the possible use case could include tokenization, security tokes and fractional ownership.

On Sunday October 29th, Qatar announced one of the biggest digital assets initiatives in the country and the GCC region, the Qatar Innovation Dome for digital assets. As per the live event keynotes, the digital assets lab will develop tokenization platforms and ecosystems for everything that has value whether tangible assets or intangible assets including real estate assets, securities, Sukuk, bonds and others in the future utilizing DLT ( distributed ledger technologies), blockchain, and smart contracts.

Qatar Financial Centre Authority (QFCA) signed MOUs with Blockchain solution provider R3 and Blockchain SettleMint platform. The agreement with Settlemint will also as with R3 work on Blockchain and digital asset initiatives in the financial sector in the digital assets lab.

Metaverse platform The Sandbox and its KSA partner Sandsoft collaborate with Saudi NFT platform Nuqtah for decentralized gaming in MENA

Metaverse platform The Sandbox and its KSA partner Sandsoft collaborate with Saudi NFT platform Nuqtah for decentralized gaming in MENA

Metaverse gaming platform Sandbox and its Saudi partner SandSoft, has partnered with KSA’s first regulated NFT platform Nuqtah to grow decentralized gaming in KSA and MENA.

As per the press release, the partnership will support the emergence of a world-class Web3 gaming ecosystem in Saudi Arabia. The partnership with Nuqtah will focus on creating exciting experiences that align with the unique tastes and preferences of Saudi Arabian gamers.

To kickstart this initiative, Nuqtah will launch a Design Contest using VoxEdit, the 3D editor of The Sandbox, for local creators in the region in early 2024. Winning creations will be featured on Nuqtah’s NFT marketplace. The Sandbox, Sandsoft and Nuqtah will also work jointly to enable creators to build experiences in The Sandbox metaverse that are specifically tailored to the Saudi Arabian region, while Nuqtah will list land and avatars from The Sandbox on its NFT marketplace.

Sebastien Borget, the COO and Co-founder of The Sandbox, commented, “We’re pursuing our journey of innovation and growth in the Saudi region following our recent partnership announcement with Sandsoft. Together with pioneers such as Nuqtah, we’ll collaborate to attract more local creators from Saudi Arabia into our user-generated content platform and enable them to monetize their digital assets creations on Nuqtah’s platform.”

Salwa Radwi, the CEO of Nuqtah, added, “The partnership between The Sandbox, Sandsoft and Nuqtah is an exciting development for the decentralized gaming community. By collaboratively building local experiences, focusing on education, and attracting regional audiences, our aim is to create a vibrant and inclusive ecosystem that empowers creators and gamers. Launching a Design Contest with VoxEdit is a joint effort to empower the Saudi creators community in the metaverse.”

David Fernandez, the CEO of Sandsoft, explained “At Sandsoft, our commitment has always been to uplift local talent, drive education, and responsibly promote emerging technologies. This partnership will spotlight emerging regional talent and create immersive local content for The Sandbox metaverse that inspires a new generation of creators. It’s a significant milestone in building a boundary-breaking metaverse community in the MENA region.”

The Sandbox, Sandsoft, and Nuqtah have committed to empowering creators, fostering inclusivity in the blockchain ecosystem, and driving educational initiatives for a passionate metaverse community. This marks the beginning of a strategic partnership paving the way for a joint venture to expand The Sandbox ecosystem across KSA, GCC, and MENA, shaping the future of decentralized gaming in Saudi Arabia.

DP World fintech platform partners with Blockchain UAE Trade Connect

DP World fintech platform partners with Blockchain UAE Trade Connect

DP World, Fintech owned platform, DP World Trade Finance has partnered with Blockchain enabled UAE Trade Connect to transform trade finance and combat fraud across the UAE.

DP World Trade Finance can leverage Blockchain enabled UAE Trade Connect platform to detect fraudulent and suspicious invoices as a risk mitigant for its lending capability.

DP World Trade Finance is the first non-bank financial institution participant with direct lending capabilities and embedded fintech value proposition to join the UTC consortium. Created in 2021, UTC is a blockchain-enabled consortium-led trade finance solution co-created by e& enterprise and the UAE banking industry.

Sinan Ozcan, Senior Executive Officer of DP World Trade Finance, said, “If we are to address the trade finance gap truly, we need organizations to work together to build transparency and security into financial processes.”

Zul Javaid, CEO of UTC, said, “DP World Trade Finance’s addition to the UTC consortium is a step in recognising that the country’s lending ecosystem is diversifying, with emerging fintech companies and alternate lenders entering the space.”

DP World Trade Finance connects businesses with financial institutions, directly offering trade finance facilities. Ozcan said the DP World subsidiary hopes to work with UTC members to transform trade finance by building transparency into the lending process.

In October 2023, UAE Trade Connect added its 13th bank member, Invest Bank.

UAE based Loyyal Blockchain loyalty platform partners with Prepay Nation B2B marketplace

UAE based Loyyal Blockchain loyalty platform partners with Prepay Nation B2B marketplace

Prepay Nation, a leading global B2B prepaid products marketplace renowned for pioneering cross-border transfers has partnered with UAE based Loyyal, a blockchain technology platform for loyalty and incentive programs. The partnership between Loyyal Blockchain solution will allow access to over 10,000 prepaid products on Prepay marketplace to benefit loyalty and incentive programs.

The Middle East and Africa loyalty market is expected to increase 12.2% reaching USD 9,297.7 million by 2027. This collaboration reinforces Prepay Nation’s commitment to global expansion and enables Loyyal to meet the demanding needs of the loyalty industry by enhancing its solutions for clients, providing added value, while also granting access to over 10,000+ prepaid products available through Prepay Nation’s extensive marketplace.

Loyyal is renowned for its innovative Blockchain-as-a-Service platform, designed to empower the loyalty industry with rapid growth and scalability at the lowest possible cost. This partnership opens new avenues for Loyyal to provide a more comprehensive and diverse range of services to its clients.

Prepay Nation boasts a widespread presence across 150+ countries and an extensive network of 600+ partnerships. Paolo Montessori, CEO, Prepay Nation said, “We are excited to join forces with Loyyal to provide an even more robust range of prepaid products and services to their clients. Loyyal’s innovative approach to loyalty solutions aligns perfectly with our mission to make prepaid products easily accessible. Together, we can revolutionize how consumers engage with loyalty programs and offer a seamless experience for all.”

Gunjan Kumar, Chief Revenue Officer, Loyyal, added, “Partnering with Prepay Nation is a strategic move that aligns with our commitment to enhance client offerings and expanding our reach. We can now provide clients with an extensive catalog of prepaid products, enabling them to offer more compelling rewards and loyalty incentives -creating a win-win for both Loyyal and Prepay Nation, as we work together to shape the future of loyalty solutions.”

IOTA to launch its regulated DLT Foundation in Abu Dhabi UAE

IOTA to launch its regulated DLT Foundation in Abu Dhabi UAE

IOTA an open-source distributed ledger and cryptocurrency designed for the Internet of things announced that it will be establishing its IOTA regulated foundation for digital infrastructure in Abu Dhabi UAE. This is as per their blog is a move that underlines their commitment to the UAE and their growth plans globally. Prior to this IOTA had announced in September it would launch its headquarters in UAE.

As per the blog post, the purpose of this entity is to become one of the primary organizations to foster the growth, adoption, and global expansion of IOTA. The post states, “As we open up a new chapter with IOTA, we need to match technology with the right support to establish IOTA as a global ecosystem. We can only do this by operating out of the right environment. We are convinced that the UAE will offer IOTA the best environment to realize its global ambitions.”

It adds,” We want IOTA to be a public goods infrastructure that will power our digital society and economy. With the new foundation in Abu Dhabi, we are confident that we will achieve this vision of the future.”

This announcement comes just after ADGM (Abu Dhabi Global Market) regulatory authority (FSRA) announced its new DLT Foundation regulatory framework. So IOTA could be the first entity to launch under this new regulatory framework.

According to Dominik Schiener, Chairman of the IOTA Foundation: ”From the very beginning, we have experienced a very warm welcome and unwavering support from leaders, regulators, and businesses in Abu Dhabi. I am simply amazed at how the country operates and how it is being led by visionary and open-minded leaders. This “can-do” mentality is the perfect environment for us to take IOTA to the next level. We are excited to play a role in helping to establish the UAE as a hub for technology innovations.”

The newly established foundation will operate under the guidance of a dedicated board of directors. One of its primary objectives will be to provide essential funding and support to the rapidly growing IOTA ecosystem. This commitment aligns with our mission to foster innovation and development within the broader DLT space.

IOTA aims to work closely with leading institutions out of the UAE, and building a thriving DLT ecosystem in the UAE and beyond.  

This announcement comes as the IOTA Foundation was chosen as a key participant in the UAE’s official startup delegation at CEATEC in Japan.

“We are thrilled to announce that the IOTA Foundation has been chosen as a key participant in the UAE’s official startup delegation at the upcoming CEATEC conference, scheduled from October 17th to 20th and held at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan. This recognition is an immense honor and a testament to IOTA’s pivotal role in pioneering Web3 and Web2 innovations.”

In May 2023, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani AlZeyoudi and the Founder of Iota, Dominik Schiener, met announcing that the IoTa Blockchain platform has now been ushered into the UAE’s digital ecosystem.

Is R3 Corda DLT platform coming to Kuwait soon?

Is R3 Corda DLT platform coming to Kuwait soon?

As many know the R3 team developed Corda the first native private, permissioned DLT platform that is not only secure and regulatory-compliant by design, but has facilitated hundreds of networks across financial services.

As per R3 applications developed on their tokenization platform Corda, harness the power of R3’s distributed ledger technology (DLT), connected networks and regulated markets expertise all aimed at driving transformation in digital finance.

R3 has been a strong proponent in the Middle East and GCC region working with governments and enterprise on several projects, most prominently the CBDC projects in Saudi Arabia and UAE.

In addition the Qatar Financial Centre Authority and R3 signed an MOU to develop and grow Qatar’s fintech industry using technologies such as DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) back in April 2023.

So it was not surprising to read on LinkedIn that Bryan D’Souza, Strategic Alliances & Partner Ecosystem Lead for EMEA at R3 stated, “I am thrilled to have experienced my first trip to Kuwait over the last couple of days as part of a mini GCC tour. I am grateful for the warm welcome from our great partners and potential clients. The hospitality of the Kuwaiti people left a lasting impression; warm, friendly, and eager to collaborate.”

He added, “Exciting opportunities ahead and looking forward to returning back to Kuwait soon!”

It sounds like the beginning of a project or several in Kuwait, which has been slow when it comes to blockchain adoption and implementation.

It seems Kuwait’s stance on Blockchain is changing as recently Salman Salah Bader Ali Naqi, who began his PhD study in the Department of Economics in January 2023, has been awarded the 2022 Kuwaiti Economic Student Award for his research titled “Digitalizing the Trade Finance Industry in Kuwait: A Transaction Cost Perspective of Blockchain-based Letters of Credit”.

The Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) held a ceremony to honor the top three winners of the Kuwaiti Economic Student Award on November 9th 2023. The CBK Governor and Chairman of the Institute of Banking Studies (IBS), Basel Ahmed Al-Haroon, attended alongside a number of key figures from the banking and finance sector.

The winners were presented with certificates of merit and commemorative gifts, and Salman’s paper, as first-prize winning research paper, will be printed, published and distributed “to serve as a reference for those wishing to benefit from sound research”.

The Kuwaiti Economic Student Award is part of the Kafa’a initiative, set up to encourage scientific research in the economic and banking fields through motivating young people to enhance their research competence in the banking and finance areas.

Indian crypto custodian Liminal receives in principle approval from Abu Dhabi regulator at ADGM

Indian crypto custodian Liminal receives in principle approval from Abu Dhabi regulator at ADGM

In a press release, Indian based digital asset custodian and wallet, Liminal has been granted an In Principle Approval by Abu Dhabi’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) to operate as a custody provider for Virtual Assets.

Liminal is working diligently to fulfill all the IPA conditions and meet FSRA’s stringent requirements to receive the Financial Services Permission (FSP).

As per Liminal, receiving the FSP from the FSRA will empower Liminal in extending its services as a trusted and reliable custodian for Virtual Assets within the ADGM jurisdiction and serve the broader MENA region. Liminal also recently launched its compliance solutions suite, with Notabene’s Travel Rule solution.

Earlier this year, in May, Liminal achieved another milestone by obtaining the TCSP License from the Hong Kong Companies Registry, enabling regulated digital asset custodial services in Hong Kong.

When Liminal secures the FSP from the FSRA, it will play a vital role in the Web3 ecosystem in the UAE, expanding its product and service offerings for the MENA region. Liminal will offer institutions a comprehensive suite of services designed to safeguard their virtual assets effectively.

Manan Vora, Senior VP of Strategy & Business Operations at Liminal, expressed enthusiasm about the IPA, stating, “ADGM has established itself as a thriving hub for innovation, growth, and maturation of the Web3 ecosystem. Their dedication to formulating clear and comprehensive regulations has created a trusted and secure environment for investors and Web3 enterprises. Recognizing the escalating demand for secure custody services in the MENA region, we took this strategic step to cater to the industry’s evolving needs. The IPA marks a significant leap forward in our mission to provide institutional-grade custody services for the digital asset industry. We are genuinely thrilled to contribute to the growth of this emerging market. After setting up an entity in Abu Dhabi, our next step is to obtain the FSP, and work closely with the ADGM team to provide regulated custody operations.”

Arvind Ramamurthy, Chief of Market Development at ADGM said, “We extend our congratulations to Liminal on being granted the IPA from the FSRA of ADGM, which paves the way for them to become fully operational in ADGM as a premier custody provider for virtual assets. As an international financial center of the UAE’s capital, ADGM’s vision for fostering a dynamic and trusted financial ecosystem prioritizes upholding the highest standards of security, innovation, and regulatory compliance. Liminal’s capabilities and dedication align seamlessly with ADGM’s goals and reinforce our commitment to driving the growth of the digital asset space in Abu Dhabi and beyond. We anticipate witnessing Liminal’s positive impact on the market and its contribution to the advancement of virtual asset services.”

Jehanzeb Awan, Founder & CEO, J. Awan & Partners, praised Liminal’s commitment and said, “It’s truly impressive to witness Liminal’s dedication to regulatory compliance and their unwavering service to the digital asset industry. Our joint efforts in undergoing stringent screening procedures and audits have culminated in a significant milestone with the issuance of the IPA. I am confident that Liminal will continue to set new standards in the virtual asset custody space, while fostering innovation in ADGM’s rapidly emerging market.”

In its commitment to delivering regulated and compliant custody solutions in the Middle East, Liminal is pleased to welcome Dr. Bhaskar Dasgupta, Veteran Business Strategist, to Its Board in Abu Dhabi. Dr. Dasgupta is highly regarded for his contributions to ADGM, and has been instrumental in revolutionizing cryptocurrency regulation on a global scale. In the past, he has also held distinguished positions as the Chief Operating Officer of UK Export Finance and held leadership positions at esteemed financial institutions, including HSBC, ABN AMRO, Citigroup, and PwC.