Crypto exchange MaskEX to set up headquarters in UAE after receiving initial approval from UAE regulator

Crypto exchange MaskEX to set up headquarters in UAE after receiving initial approval from UAE regulator

Crypto exchange, MaskEX has unilaterally announced receiving an initial approval from Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) to begin making preparations for its launch in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It also will be opening its headquarters in Dubai and hiring. 

As per the announcement, the approval represents a major milestone for MaskEX, which has been working tirelessly to expand its presence in the Middle East and bring the benefits of virtual assets to a wider audience.

MaskEX will begin finalizing its entity incorporation, engage banking services, hire more staff in Dubai for its soon-to-be-opened headquarters office, and take the necessary steps to become the first regulated exchange in the UAE.

The services and activities MaskEX has applied for include exchange, lending and borrowing, broker-dealer, and virtual asset management and investment services, with the aim of obtaining VARA’s highly acclaimed FMP license. This license will enable MaskEX to operate in and from Dubai while upholding its commitment to regulatory compliance, customer protection, and innovation. 

“We are extremely proud and grateful to have received initial approval from VARA, which is a testament to our commitment to meeting the highest regulatory standards,” said Eric Yang, CEO of MaskEX. “We believe that our platform will provide users in the UAE with a safe, reliable, and efficient way to access the world of virtual assets, and we look forward to launching as soon as possible, while strictly adhering to the requirements laid out by VARA.”

“The initial approval from VARA is a major milestone for us, and is of great significance not just for the UAE but for the entire MENA region,” said Ben Caselin, Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of MaskEX. “We look forward to working closely with the regulatory authorities to ensure that our platform meets all necessary requirements and provides a secure and transparent environment for our users.”

Digital asset exchange Fasset receives initial approval for full market license from Dubai’s VARA

Digital asset exchange Fasset receives initial approval for full market license from Dubai’s VARA

Unilaterally, Fasset, a digital asset exchange platform with a vision to offer affordable and frictionless gateway for people in emerging markets to own and grow their wealth in digital assets has announced  that it has been granted an Initial Approval for a Full Market Product (FMP) license by the Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) in UAE.

As per the announcement, “Though the initial approval does not yet allow any virtual asset activity in or from Dubai, this initial stage indicates progress in obtaining full permission to operate in Dubai. This crucial step forward allows Fasset to lead the digital assets market, as one of the first exchanges to provide regulatory protection to consumers in Dubai, as the MENA region has been identified as the world’s fastest growing cryptocurrency market.”

Raafi Hossain, CEO and Co-Founder of Fasset stated, “This is an incredibly exciting time to be leading the way in democratizing access to digital assets. As the world turns to Dubai as the financial epicenter for growth, the opportunity to work with VARA embeds improved access to digital assets with the provision of heavily anticipated regulatory guardrails. We are grateful for the leadership and guidance of VARA team in helping us achieve the milestone of being one of the first exchanges to receive Initial Approval under the FMP license, and look forward to working with the VARA team to achieve full permission to offer our services to the world from Dubai.”

Fasset has sought regulatory permissions across the biggest markets in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, where digital asset-based rails are vital.

Currently Fasset is participating as a sponsor and speaker at the Dubai Fintech Summit. Mohammad Raafi Hossain, participated in a panel discussion on Crypto and the evolving regulatory framework emphasizing the societal value of crypto.

Raafi emphasized that regulation should serve as a positive reinforcement tool for the main benefits of wealth creation and property rights ownership, rather than a reactive response to the negative aspects of the crypto industry. Secondly, he highlighted the need for an international philosophy and ethos around crypto regulation that takes into account the desires and needs of the market with regards to asset ownership and enablement.

Fasset has also signed two MOUs, one with Minted which will provide increased access to tokenized precious metals across developing markets including Turkey, Indonesia and UAE and another one with Oman Mamun which will focus on building innovative new solutions for Oman based on real world assets. The collaboration with Mamun will increase access to investment opportunities and enhance liquidity for physical assets, all within a secure and compliant framework.

CoinBase, Circle, and Bittrex leaving USA and heading to the MENA region

CoinBase, Circle, and Bittrex leaving USA and heading to the MENA region

The exodus of Crypto and Blockchain startups from the United States seems to be intensifying and it looks like the MENA region, and UAE are the new preferred destinations for CoinBase, Circle and Bittrex. 

Tim Draper, Founder of DFJ VC tweeted recently that Silicon Valley startups are relocating to Middle East, Asia, and Europe.

He states, “CoinBase and Gemini are moving out of the US for regulatory reasons. Dubai, London and Singapore are eating into New York’s blockchain leadership. This exodus is not good for US jobs, economy, and homelessness.”

Additionally, in the last 24 hours CoinBase announced that its CEO and Co-Founder Brian Armstrong is currently in the UAE for a series of engagements with policymakers, regulators, partners, Web3 and crypto founders as well as clients.

Armstrong is delivering a keynote address at the inaugural Dubai Fintech Summit, under the patronage of His Royal Highness, Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, First Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.

As per CoinBase blog, “Crypto and Web3 serve as enormous opportunities for economic and technological diversification for the UAE, and the region has the potential to be a strategic hub for CoinBase, amplifying our efforts across the world.”

The blog adds, “It further serves as a particularly strategic bridge between Asia and Europe – two of our existing focus international regions to date.”

CoinBase reiterated that it is not only working with Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) regulators to further expand the licensing and availability for CoinBase International Exchange but is also engaging with Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), a dedicated regulator for virtual assets, as they put forward a comprehensive retail framework built on the principles of economic sustainability and cross-border financial security. 

CoinBase believes that their presence in the UAE will not only expand their global footprint but also help to bring 1 billion users to crypto.  

The blog adds that the MENA region is out to be a leader in the development of a web3 ecosystem, making it an attractive location to consider investing in. The vacuum created by other notable jurisdictions means that international counterparts, such as the UAE, are racing to fill the regulatory gap.

CoinBase is not the only US Company that is looking at the UAE. It also seems Circle is interested in the region as well. The Circle team were recently present in Dubai UAE at a dinner hosted by Miriam Kiwan, the partner of Raiven Capital.

Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle Internet Financial, during an interview with Bloomberg, blamed the shrunken value of the company’s stablecoin, USD Coin, on regulatory challenges in the United States and concerns about its banking system.

In addition in March 2023 the SEC sued crypto exchange Bittrex shortly after it announced it was leaving the US markets. Bittrex, announced it would no longer do business with U.S. citizens because “it’s just not economically viable for us to continue to operate in the current U.S. regulatory and economic environment.”

Stephen Stonberg, CEO of Bittrex Global crypto exchange  has stated that the UAE and Dubai are among the friendliest jurisdictions for the cryptocurrency industry. He added in a Bloomberg interview Dubai is likely to benefit from the expanding crypto market in the Middle East as local regulators increasingly accept blockchain related technologies.

Finally in a recent LinkedIn post by Ali Jamal, CEO of UAE based Cryptos Consultancy, a crypto and Blockchain licensing firm, he noted, “We at Cryptos Consultancy have been getting lots of queries from crypto and tradfi businesses about setting up Virtual Asset practices in Dubai. There is a real buzz around Dubai’s virtual assets ecosystem now that the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) regulations are out.”

So as crypto and Blockchain businesses flee the USA, the tightening regulations in the USA continue with The New York State Attorney General (NYAG) Office announcing last week that Attorney General Letitia James has proposed “landmark legislation to tighten regulations on the cryptocurrency industry to protect investors, consumers, and the broader economy.” The announcement stated, ” Attorney General James’ program bill, which proposes the strongest and most comprehensive set of regulations on cryptocurrency in the nation, would increase transparency, eliminate conflicts of interest, and impose commonsense measures to protect investors, consistent with regulations imposed on other financial services.” 

It seems that this is only the beginning and the MENA region with UAE and Bahrain at the helm will become the new crypto Silicon Valley. 

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Poloniex crypto exchange pays $7.5 million settlement to OFAC for dealing with customers in Syria, Sudan, Iran, Crimea

Poloniex crypto exchange pays $7.5 million settlement to OFAC for dealing with customers in Syria, Sudan, Iran, Crimea

US based Poloniex, LLC, a Delaware company with its principal place of business in Boston, Massachusetts which previously operated an online trading and settlement platform previously doing business as Poloniex Inc. (hereinafter collectively “Poloniex”) has agreed to remit $7,591,630 to settle its potential civil liability for 65,942 apparent violations of multiple sanctions programs with countries such as Syria, Sudan, Iran, and Crimea with U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC.)

 As noted by OFAC, between January 2014 and November 2019, the Poloniex trading platform allowed customers apparently located in sanctioned jurisdictions to engage in online digital asset-related transactions consisting of trades, deposits, and withdrawals—with a combined value of $15,335,349, despite having reason to know their location based on both Know Your Customer information and internet protocol address data.

As per the OFAC statement, the settlement amount reflects OFAC’s determination that Poloniex’s apparent violations were not voluntarily self-disclosed and were not egregious.

The statement went on to read, “Although Poloniex made efforts to identify and restrict accounts with a nexus to Iran, Cuba, Sudan, Crimea, and Syria pursuant to its compliance program, certain customers apparently located in these jurisdictions continued to use Poloniex’s platform to engage in online digital asset-related transactions.”

Poloniex operations began in January 2014 by offering an online digital assets trading and settlement platform (“Poloniex Trading Platform”) that allowed customers to fund their accounts and conduct trading activity. Sixteen months later, in May 2015, Poloniex implemented a sanctions compliance program, which provided for a review of KYC information for new customers in jurisdictions subject to comprehensive OFAC sanctions; existing customers were not retroactively screened in this manner.

As a result, customers who had self-identified before May 2015 as residing in a sanctioned jurisdiction (i.e., customers who provided an address located within a sanctioned jurisdiction to Poloniex during the KYC process at the time of account opening) were generally able to continue using Poloniex’s platform. . Poloniex did not begin implementing a block on such IP addresses until June 2017. Poloniex implemented sanctions controls related to customers in the Crimea region of Ukraine only in August 2017.

 Although Poloniex made efforts to identify and restrict accounts with a nexus to Iran, Cuba, Sudan, Crimea, and Syria pursuant to its compliance program, certain customers apparently located in these jurisdictions continued to use Poloniex’s platform to engage in online digital asset-related transactions (the “Apparent Violations”).

Stablecoin issuer Circle acquired Poloniex in 2018, after which time, OFAC’s investigation concluded, the firm’s compliance measures “further improved,” specifically by closing accounts with IP addresses operating in Crimea. A group of investors, which included Tron founder Justin Sun, purchased the firm from Circle in 2019.

The second biggest global crypto exchange Coinbase intends to set up regulated entity in UAE

The second biggest global crypto exchange Coinbase intends to set up regulated entity in UAE

According to a recent blog post published by CoinBase the second biggest global crypto currency exchange, the company revealed that is in talks with UAE’s regulator in Abu Dhabi, FSRA ( Financial Service Regulatory Authority)  part of ADGM (Abu Dhabi Global Market) to expand its regulated operations to the UAE.

The expansion is part of its global scale to go broad and deep. As part of its strategy, Coinbase will establish regulated entities and local operations in high-bar regulatory jurisdictions abroad to focus on international growth.

As per the blog post, “Coinbase is focused on international growth and is working with several high-bar international regulators to establish regulated entities abroad that safely facilitate trading solutions and provide products the crypto community demands. Coinbase will continue to launch foundational products that are a gateway to Web3 and crypto across the globe while launching localized infrastructure and public facing products with a full suite of services.”

The post adds, “We have accelerated our UAE plans with Abu Dhabi Global market regulator. We are in discussion with the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) regarding a potential license for a regulated exchange. ADGM is a renowned international financial services center. ADGM is known for having a well-regarded, comprehensive regulatory framework and is committed to operating a fair and efficient regulatory environment for global market participants. ADGM has developed and supported the regulation and trading of cryptocurrencies and Coinbase intends to help further their vision. “

This comes as Binance seeks to receive a regulated license from both ADGM and Dubai’s Virtual asset regulator. While others such as Kraken has closed its operations in UAE. 

Saudi Arabian Investment fund main investor in OPNX tokenized crypto exchange

Saudi Arabian Investment fund main investor in OPNX tokenized crypto exchange

Saudi Arabian Tuwaiq Investment Fund part of Jadwa Investment Fund has invested a substantial amount in OPNX tokenized crypto exchange for bankrupt crypto companies. KSA based Tuwaiq Investment Fund is a real estate opportunistic fund managed by Jadwa Investment yet as per OPNX they are also a digital asset fund.

The statement was made in an OPNX tweet as they expressed their thanks to investors who had participated in the $25 million raise. As per the tweet, “As we approach the launch of claims for our first estate, Celsius, we’d like to express gratitude to everyone who believed in our mission of helping 20M+ claimants. A special thank you goes to our major investors, including AppWorks, Susquehanna (SIG), DRW, MIAX Group, Merchant Bank International, Token Bay Capital, Nascent, Tuwaiq Limited and many more.”

The tweet goes on to state, “They contributed not just capital, but also incredible feedback throughout the process of refining our vision, product offerings, tokenomics, legal framework & decision to relocate to HK. Token Bay Capital: HK fund specializing in fast emerging web3 startups across Asia Pacific.  Nascent: Early stage venture firm who provided incredible feedback to our team and- Tuwaiq Limited: Saudi Digital Asset Fund.

OPNX exchange aims to tokenize users’ claims to bankrupted crypto companies, allowing them to use bankruptcy claims as collateral to trade perpetuals’.

OPNX will acquire all assets of CoinFLEX including people, tech, and tokens. $FLEX will be the exchange token. As per OPNX website, “ A $20 billion market of claimants is desperately looking for a solution. This list includes FTX, Voyager, Celsius, Genesis, BlockFi, Mt Gox, and our creditors.”

Prior to this OPNX exchange, was recently tagged by Dubai’s VARA (Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority) as not regulated in the UAE, and rumors had surfaced that it was Bahrain sovereign wealth fund that had invested in the company. Yet now it is obvious that it was a KSA fund.

The Crypto ecosystem grows in Bahrain after entrance of Binance

The Crypto ecosystem grows in Bahrain after entrance of Binance

In January 2023 Binance celebrated its official entrance into Bahrain. Bahrain’s crypto ecosystem has flourished with the entrance of Binance. Bahrain has witnessed a growth on all fronts, crypto exchange users, crypto payments, crypto jobs and competitive crypto offerings. Binance received its official license in October 2022.

Growth of crypto exchange users

The official license and launch of Binance in Bahrain has added to Binance’s crypto exchange users.

Binance announced that it witnessed a 34% growth in institutional business clients in MENA in Q4 2022, the highest growth for a region where Binance operates, Nadeem Ladki, Executive Director Head of BD & Partnerships, Europe & MENA at Binance told LaraontheBlock, “While I cannot go into the specific growth in Bahrain, I can confirm that we have seen a growth in users since we officially launched in October 2022.”

Even Bahrain based CoinMENA; crypto broker also saw an increase in its user base in 2022 including the period since Binance made its foray into the country. Talal Tabaa CEO and Founder of CoinMENA explained to LaraontheBlock, “Year on Year from December 2021 until December 2022, the verified users of CoinMENA from Bahrain grew by 143 percent. In specific since the entrance of Binance in October 2022, CoinMENA witnessed 5.6 percent growth up until January 2023.”

Growth Crypto vis vie Banking services

In addition to the increase in the number of newly on boarded crypto exchange clients, the country has seen more robust competitive marketing campaigns, with lower fees aimed at attracting a bigger user base as well as enhanced banking crypto relationships.

Binance holds a Category 4 license as a crypto asset service provider (CASP) and was the first exchange in the country to be granted a category four license.  This meant that users could access Binance’s full range of crypto asset exchange services, including direct deposits and withdrawals in local currencies.

Yet this did not faze CoinMENA which despite being a crypto broker still espouses good relationships with liquidity partners and banks. Talal Tabbaa, CEO of CoinMENA told LaraontheBlock, “Compared to other regions, the MENA market is one of the smallest. CoinMENA, Rain & BitOasis are technically all brokerage firms. We all have to work with global liquidity partners to place trades on behalf of our users. CoinMENA can list tokens at its own discretion following the Board of Directors’ approval, but they must comply with CBB guidelines.”

After Binance entered Bahrain and in early 2023, CoinMENA announced that users could now easily deposit and withdraw crypto through bank transfers or cards in just 24 hours. CoinMENA CEO explains, “We maintain good banking relationships which is crucial to ensure the on-ramp and off-ramp services are as frictionless as possible for our users.”

RAIN crypto broker which similar to CoinMENA has a category three license in Bahrain has on some occasions compared its offering with Binance. In a tweet by one of its founders AJ Nelson in late October in reply to a comment from a client stated, “Yes we are well aware of the problems with bank transfers. We are working directly with regulators to solve. In good time we will have a solution regarding fees, have you used Rain Pro? It has 0 maker fees and tight spreads. Lower fees and pricing than Binance.”

More Competitive Marketing Campaigns lower fees

In terms of marketing campaigns to introduce better services at lower cost, Binance for its launch campaign offered 25% discount on all trading fees for Bahrain users through a link ‘ BHLive’. 

In addition Binance offered the Binance Bahrain Card allowing Bahrain clients to spend cryptocurrencies in over 60 million online and physical stores. 

Furthermore in December as part of its Christmas offering, Binance offered its Arabic speaking clients’ rewards reaching $1.5 million in addition to promotions. As it noted on its twitter page Binance offers 350+ crypto assets with fees of less than 0.10 percent per transaction. 

CoinMENA quickly countered these marketing campaigns with those of its own. For example in January 2023, CoinMENA offered discounted card deposit fees for 48 hours again after doing so in late 2022.

 As per the advert, users would pay only 2% fee on card deposits instead of 3.5%. For Bahrain’s National Day celebrations, CoinMENA offered zero trading fees for a limited time of 48 hours. The crypto exchange had also promoted prior to that a 23% off on trading fees for a specified time period.

 CoinMENA offers around 30 crypto assets for trading with fees of 0.75%.

 Tabaa confirms that the entrance of Binance helped to grow the crypto ecosystem in Bahrain. He stated, “Binance spends a lot on crypto marketing and this actually benefits the entire ecosystem of players.”

 Growth of Crypto Payments

Crypto as a method of payment has also seen significant growth since the entrance of Binance in Bahrain. Binance partnered with EazyPay, a financial payment service provider which has a network of thousands of merchants and over 6000 terminals, to offer crypto as a method of payment while settling transactions with merchants in fiat currency.

According to Nayef Tawfiq Al Alawi, Managing Director and CEO of EazyPay, “As a regulated entity we can only work with regulated entities such as Binance. Since our partnership merchants have been more confident to get into the crypto payment scene and in terms of transactions, while people are still testing the service on average we transact $5000 worth of crypto transaction per day over 6000 terminals in Bahrain. This is really good.”

It hasn’t stopped there, In November 2022 just after Binance entered Bahrain, CoinMENA partnered with Carlton Real Estate, a Bahrain-based real estate agency that allows investors in the Kingdom to purchase real estate property using crypto assets. Under the partnership, the real estate broker would accept stablecoins like USDT and USDC.

 This only exemplifies the increase in crypto as a method of payment in the country.

Growth in crypto Job market

Binance has viewed Bahrain as a key business hub which will provide areas for growth and employment within the wider industry. Currently Binance has employed 200 people in Bahrain and is continuing to hire. It has job posts for Customer Support Specialist, Senior Treasury Manager and others in Bahrain.

Even RAIN which decreased its employee base by 50% still has around 200 employees while CoinMENA has around16 employees and is also currently hiring with job openings for software engineer in January 2023 as well others.

Conclusion

Changpeng Zhao CZ in a recent tweet  stated, “Bahrain is a hidden gem, super safe, very clean, well developed, good food, superb service, nice people and crypto friendly!”

While CoinMENA affirms that it has known that international players would be entering the region given the poor financial services, high fees and large unbanked population coupled with young demographic population and high smartphone penetration. To him this only shows the market is maturing and accelerating growth.

Binance in 2022, processed a whopping $65 billion in trading volume on average every day, at a speed of approximately 0.7 million transactions per second. The entrance of Binance into markets such as Bahrain has for sure added to the growth of the crypto market and ecosystem.

UAE Emirates Zone Investment services accepts crypto payments using Binance Pay

UAE Emirates Zone Investment services accepts crypto payments using Binance Pay

UAE Emirates Zone Investment Services has partnered with Binance Pay, to accept crypto payments from the UAE startup community, small and medium businesses (SMBs), Investors and Entrepreneurs who are planning to set up companies in the region.

Emirates Zone provides business setup and business formation to investors inside and outside the country. UAE is one of the biggest crypto markets in the world. Based in Abu Dhabi, Emirates Zone Group aims to facilitate the adoption of digital currencies in the region.

Speaking on the partnership, Sanad Al-Meqbali, CEO of Emirates Zone Company, stated, “Emirates Zone Company offers a diverse and comprehensive package of solutions and facilities necessary to empower foreign investors and small and medium-sized companies and provide the opportunity to launch these projects with confidence, ease and ease. Accepting cryptocurrency payments will create more opportunities for global businesses in a bid to tap into UAE’s thriving startup community.”

Nadeem Ladki, Executive Director of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships at Binance, aded, ” Emirates Zone’s  decision in accepting cryptocurrency payments with Binance Pay demonstrates Emirates Zone’s forward looking view and approach of the future of the industry. The benefits to use Binance Pay will be a huge draw to the local and global startup business community and offers a great deal of opportunities and businesses looking to establish themselves in the UAE.”

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.

Crypto.com and Coca Cola offer Fans of World Cup FIFA 2022 from GCC and MENA NFT collection

Crypto.com and Coca Cola offer Fans of World Cup FIFA 2022 from GCC and MENA NFT collection

Coca-Cola and Crypto.com, sponsor of Qatar World Cup 2022, have teamed up to launch an NFT collection inspired by the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup. The collection, created in collaboration with digital artist GMUNK, is based on “heat maps” that visually represent the movements and highlights of the tournament’s players. GMUNK has created 10,000 NFTs based on these heat maps, which will be available to fans on the Crypto.com NFT platform from May 1 to July 31, 2022.

To access the NFT collection, fans will need to create an account on the Crypto.com NFT platform and visit Coca-Cola’s fan zone page to mint a token. The Coca-Cola fan zone is a digital hub for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup that offers fans the opportunity to experience thrills, excitement, games, and moments to remember during the tournament.

 In addition to the NFT collection, the fan zone includes leaderboards, pledges, and predictions, allowing fans to compete with each other and interact with the tournament in real-time.

As per some news websites the registration sites for the NFTs are offered on either Coca-cola Middle East or the fan zone links officially provided for residents living in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, or the United Arab Emirates.

Just after the announcement Crypto.com’s CRO token (CRO) gained value this week. CRO climbed as much as 10% after the press release hit, and though it slipped to a 8.5% advance at press time CRO remains one of the top performing digital assets on Monday 5th of December. Despite this, CRO token remains lower by about 50% over the past month in the FTX-related crumbling in the cryptocurrency markets. CRO is down nearly 90% year over year.

This is the first World Cup that has not only features Blockchain and crypto sponsors but tokens and NFTs, growing the interest in both in the MENA region.