UK Nexo crypto lender to hire a150 workforce in UAE as it expands its MENA presence

UK Nexo crypto lender to hire a150 workforce in UAE as it expands its MENA presence

In a recent article published by Arabian Gulf Business Insight, Nexo Co-Founder and MD Antoni Trenchev announced that the UK entity would be opening its offices in the UAE as it expands into the MENA region.

The MENA region will grow to account for 30 percent of its total global operations. NEXO as per the article which currently has 5 million users across 200 jurisdictions will set up under Dubai’s VARA regulations as well as DIFC.

As per comments made by Trenchev 150 people will be recruited. In the article he states, “We are seeking two lines of regulation,” Trenchev said. “One is for the crypto-related activities which will be at VARA, while DIFC will be for more traditional offerings associated with wealth management.

“There appears to be a political will to create a blockchain fintech financial hub in the region but more specifically Dubai and Abu Dhabi, which is always welcoming,” he said.

“In the Middle East the rules are being developed as we go, but there is the clear desire to have the business here, whereas in the US, when you deal with the various agencies and you assess their moves, you’re not really sure whether they want to have any crypto there apart from maybe Bitcoin,” he adds.

Binance invests more than $2 million to educate and mentor women on crypto and Web3

Binance invests more than $2 million to educate and mentor women on crypto and Web3

As part of Women’s Day, Binance cryptocurrency exchange, is investing more than $2 million in more than 10 countries globally to educate them and mentor them on crypto and Web3. Currently women comprise only 37% of crypto owners.

Binance Charity donated $2 million to fund over 36,000 dedicated Web3 scholarships for women in 2022, and will continue funding courses, programs and scholarships in 2023 with a focus on women and underrepresented communities.

The 2022 scholarships to study blockchain and crypto-related courses at universities, schools and nonprofits were awarded to women in Germany, Nigeria, Kenya, Brazil, France, South Africa, Australia, and Ukraine. 

For Women’s Day, Binance Charity will also make an additional donation of $100,000 to Georgia’s Innovation & Technology Agency (GITA) to support web3 education and training for women. Binance Academy will provide educational content for GITA web3 courses.

With the objective of supporting women’s participation in the blockchain and Web3 industry in the Middle East, Binance held a Woman in Crypto event in Dubai. The event aimed to empower women with the knowledge and skills necessary to thrive in the crypto space and featured a diverse line-up of female experts in key fields such as entrepreneurship, personal branding, and Web3 career advice. 

The event also covered crucial topics, including how to select the right company to work with and ways to create an empowering platform for women interested in entering the crypto industry.

Binance was co-founded in 2017 by Yi He, making the company one of the few female-founder crypto companies in the world. Less than 5% of crypto founders at top crypto companies are women2.  As of 2022, the number of female-founded cryptocurrency companies was approximately 292, out of more than 10,000 companies3.

In order to further address the gender gap, Binance has created its first formal internship and graduate programs, which offer more access to careers in crypto for diverse talent, including women. The company also offers guidance and career advice to women through female mentorship programs, talent workshops, educational courses and lectures to share industry experience and insights on how to break into a career in Web3.

“As one of the few female leaders in the industry, I believe that we have a mission, through Binance Charity and Binance Academy, to help more women understand web3 and blockchain technology — our education and internship programs aim to empower young women with knowledge and skills ready for industry disruption,” said Yi He, Binance co-founder and chief marketing officer. “We believe that anyone with ideas can change the world, regardless of gender. We hope these commitments will result in more women on the front line of innovation and bring change to our industry.”

FLUUS crypto payment startup founded by MENA crypto enthusiasts raises $600,000

FLUUS crypto payment startup founded by MENA crypto enthusiasts raises $600,000

Crypto payment startup FLUUS ( which means money in Arabic) founded by MENA crypto enthusiasts has raised $600,000 ahead of its beta launch. FHS Capital, Base 64 and a number of angel investors participated in the raise.

FLUUS is creating a fiat-crypto on- and off-ramp that will give consumers access to web3 services including token swapping and staking. Its payment solution is designed to eliminate friction and simplify the process of entering and exiting the crypto economy.

Funds raised from the seed round will be used to further develop products and roll out FLUUS’ services, bringing crypto-fiat payments to a global audience.

“We are excited to have the support of FHS Capital and Encryptus.io, two highly reputable investment firms,” said Tey El-Rjula, co-founder and CEO of FLUUS. “Their experience and resources will be invaluable as we continue to grow and scale our business to provide financial technology solutions to onboard the next billion into web3.”

Dr. Fady and Mr. Hesham Hannah-Shmouni, Managing Partners at FHS Capital, stated,“Our investment in FLUUS fits perfectly with our vision for empowering exceptional founders and technologies in the web3 space, enabling customers and partners across key industry verticals to benefit from using blockchain technology.”

More than $1 million in cryptocurrency has already been successfully off-ramped in a private trial of FLUUS’ payment gateway. Funds were used to provide aid in Ukraine with the support of an international NGO. The next development phase will see the beta version of FLUUS’ payment solution opened to a broader market segment.

A number of major partnerships are already in place that will see FLUUS’ payment solution rolled out to millions of web users. These include matchmaking platform Dua.com and the GD10 Ventures ecosystem. The FLUUS payment widget can be easily embedded into third party websites and applications, providing crypto-fiat changing on demand.

FLUUS at present features two flagship products, FLUUS Pay: A regulated and compliant crypto ramping service delivered in collaboration with fintech operators and money transfer networks, and FLUUS Auth: An SDK that allows developers to easily integrate secure and user-friendly sign-up and web3 onboarding into their own applications.

FLUUS was founded in March 2022 with the goal of building solutions that will enhance global access to web3, particularly in emerging markets.  To the FLUUS founders, interoperability between financial systems is vital. This is especially important in emerging markets. With FLUUS, users can seamlessly on and off ramp digital currencies using their most convenient payment methods including cash and mobile money. 

As a pioneer in digital payment solutions, FLUUS Pay with its public beta launch expected to handle 62.82% of all crypto ramping in Lebanon by Q4 2023. In January 2023, 30% of all ramping in Lebanon was already done through FLUUS Pay, highlighting the platform’s success in providing a user-friendly, secure, and efficient way to buy and sell cryptocurrencies.

Millions of dollars being poured in for crypto, blockchain, Web3 entities at UAE’s DMCC

Millions of dollars being poured in for crypto, blockchain, Web3 entities at UAE’s DMCC

Once again UAE’s DMCC, the free zone for commodities trading has partnered to offer Web3, Blockchain businesses with a $5 million growth platform. This is not the first partnership in this regards and it seems it won’t be the last. Millions of dollars are being poured in for crypto, blockchain and Web entities in DMCC. 

Digital Wave Finance Labs, a multi stage web3 investment firm will work with DMCC will establish the DWF Ventures Studio, which will support nascent web3 and blockchain businesses using the DMCC Crypto Centre and Dubai as a hub from which they can scale their operations locally, regionally and globally.

The partnership was announced during the “Sunset Meet and Greet” event organized by DWF Labs on 24 February 2023 in Dubai.

The DWF Venture Studio will provide multiple benefits for early-stage startups based in DMCC, including consultancy services, increased connection to global venture capital, market making services on tier one and two exchanges, a range of workshops and direct capital investments and aim to invest in 50 startups operating in the web3 space, with multiple additional investments for best performing companies, and a USD 500,000 investment for the cohort’s most prominent business.

 Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, DMCC, stated “Dubai’s leading position as a hub for web3 technologies is known the world over. The DMCC Crypto Centre has been a fundamental part of the emirate’s successful crypto journey, housing the largest concentration of web3 and blockchain businesses in the region. Partnering with one of the top names in the global industry further exemplifies the maturity of the crypto business community that we have built, as well as the significant commercial opportunities that Dubai presents.”

DWF Labs is part of the broader Digital Wave Finance (DWF) platform, which is one of the world’s largest high-frequency cryptocurrency trading entities. By trading volume, DWF is one of the top five trading entities that trade on the top 40 exchanges, trading over 2000 different types of the digital asset.

Andrei Grachev, Managing Partner, and DWF Labs, added: “DWF Labs’ core goal is to invest in and support innovative entrepreneurs within the web3 space. For this reason, partnering with DMCC and its Crypto Centre is the right step as we expand our footprint both in Dubai and globally. The ecosystem that DMCC has built offers a strong pool of crypto talent that we are looking forward to being part of, building upon, and ultimately further facilitating its success.”

Previously DMCC announced the launch of the DMCC gaming Center to support the gaming industry through a partnership with YaLLa Esports a leading esports organization in the UAE. Furthermore, members were offered the opportunity to join gaming specific acceleration and market entry programs through DMCC’s ecosystem partner, AstroLabs, a leading tech ecosystem builder in the MENA region.

DMCC also partnered the global VC firm Brinc to provide members with access to USD 150 million in funding through their accelerator programs ZK Advancer and The Sandbox Metaverse. Those programs will also be open to DMCC Gaming Centre members developing games on blockchain and web3 technologies. 

DMCC, also announced its partnership with global Web3 incubator TDEFi to launch an accelerator program for Web3 and Blockchain companies in DMCC crypto center. The accelerator program will offer mentorship and sessions on crypto and scaling businesses. The program will be over a month long and will run for a minimum of two editions over the next 12 months.

At the end of each cohort, TDeFi will also select a handful of start-ups to be part of its in-depth incubation program, providing them with access to additional TDeFi advisory services and its growing ecosystem.

The investment in Blockchain, Web3 and crypto is growing in the MENA region. According to LaraontheBlock MENA 2023 investor survey revealed that 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.

As it looks now DMCC which already houses 36% of UAE’s blockchain and crypto entities might one day house blockchain and crypto unicorns!

The desert of UAE now has two crypto Blockchain oases, plural for Oasis

The desert of UAE now has two crypto Blockchain oases, plural for Oasis

The Government of Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) will be launching the RAK Digital Assets Oasis free zone dedicated to digital and virtual asset companies for non regulated entities. So the UAE now has two crypto Blockchain Oases, one in DMCC for regulated blockchain and crypto entities and one in RAK for non regulated. The new oasis will be launched in Q2 of 2023. 

Sheikh Mohammed bin Humaid bin Abdullah Al Qasimi, Chairman of RAK ICC and Chairman of RAK Digital Assets Oasis said,  “We are proud to further the UAE’s position as a primary destination for innovation with the launch of RAK Digital Assets Oasis. We are building the free zone of the future for the companies of the future. As the world’s first free zone solely dedicated to digital and virtual asset companies, we look forward to supporting the ambitions of entrepreneurs from around the world with our progressive, supportive, and quick-to-adapt approach, and our innovation-enabling environment.”

Making the announcement, Dr. Sameer Al Ansari, CEO of RAK ICC and CEO of Digital Assets Oasis, said: “I am privileged to help implement the forward-thinking vision of the leadership of Ras Al Khaimah to enable, foster, and promote innovation in new and emerging sectors of the future. With the UAE’s established reputation as an innovation hub, RAK Digital Assets Oasis delivers a truly unique offering to global entrepreneurs bringing together an unmatched combination of accessibility and liveability, supported by Ras Al Khaimah’s business-friendly infrastructure, progressive policies, and an international lifestyle offering.” 

RAK Digital Assets Oasis will be a purpose-built, true innovation-enabling free zone for non-regulated activities in the virtual assets sector. It is intended to be the only free zone in the world solely dedicated to digital and virtual assets service providers innovating in new and emerging sectors of the future including metaverse, blockchain, utility tokens, virtual asset wallets, NFTs, DAOs, DApp, and other Web3-related businesses. RAK Digital Assets Oasis will open for applications in the second quarter of 2023.

“We look forward to welcoming the world’s brightest Web3 minds with their most disruptive ideas that uncover new approaches to creating a better future. We are committed to empowering the next generation of global entrepreneurial talent to build transformative solutions and create impact, while shaping the future of businesses and economies,” added Dr. Al Ansari.

RAK Digital Assets Oasis’ unique lifestyle proposition will support companies with robust, innovation-enabling adoption frameworks, advisory and professional services, hybrid workspaces, accelerators and incubators, sandboxes, access to funding, and an environment that encourages entrepreneurs to imagine, create, and evolve.

The free zone aligns with the UAE’s position as a primary destination for innovation. RAK Digital Assets Oasis will be a remote-work friendly, globally connected destination for digital and virtual asset companies building innovative business models for the future that will be well positioned to tap into the region’s emerging markets.

Prior to this DMCC had embraced the Crypto Oasis ecosystem within its free zone in Dubai UAE. It has also incorporated the DMCC Crypto Center dedicated to crypto and Blockchain entities. So today RAS Al Khaimah is yet another blockchain and crypto oasis in the desert.

Web3 Blockchain crypto accelerator and incubator launched in UAE’s DMCC

Web3 Blockchain crypto accelerator and incubator launched in UAE’s DMCC

UAE DMCC, currently home to 550 Blockchain and crypto entities, and global Web3 incubator TDEFi have partnered to launch an accelerator program for Web3 and Blockchain companies in DMCC crypto center.

The accelerator program will offer mentorship and sessions on crypto and scaling businesses. The program will be over a month long and will run for a minimum of two editions over the next 12 months. 

At the end of each cohort, TDeFi will also select a handful of start-ups to be part of its in-depth incubation program, providing them with access to additional TDeFi advisory services and its growing ecosystem.

Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, DMCC, said, “Supporting Web3 and blockchain businesses is a key priority for DMCC as we build on the success that the Crypto Centre has seen since its launch. By providing everything crypto businesses and entrepreneurs need to thrive, we have emphatically positioned Dubai as a leading hub for crypto. This latest partnership with TDeFi adds yet another string to our bow and will help emerging crypto businesses bring their ideas to light in Dubai.”

Gaurav Dubey, CEO, TDeFi, added: “Our extensive program comprises various modules that will support entrepreneurs and businesses operating within the crypto space, from ideation to scaling their start-ups. Through its Crypto Centre, DMCC has established a leading ecosystem of Web3 and blockchain businesses, and so there is no better place for us to operate our latest accelerator program. Through this new partnership, we are looking forward to unlocking some truly game-changing projects in the Web3 space.”

Oman indecisive over CBDC but adamant that crypto is an asset not a currency

Oman indecisive over CBDC but adamant that crypto is an asset not a currency

During a discussion panel at the Youth Center in Muscat Oman, the Oman Central Bank governor Tahir Bin Salim Al Amri stated that the Central Bank of Oman along with many other central banks globally do not recognize crypto as currencies. He stated, “It is not a means of payment it is a commodity or an asset of some sort that is being traded mainly for capital gains.”

He also noted that while the Central Bank of Oman is keeping an open mind while maintaining caution because of the risky nature of crypto assets.

This month the Oman Capital Authority announced that it would be launching its virtual asset framework. Commenting on this the governor Al Amri stated that they were part of the creation of the framework.  He also noted that the Central Bank of Oman was in the process of developing its CBDC ( Central Bank Digital Currency), with a final decision expected to be announced at the end of 2023.

The proposed new regulatory framework is envisaged to cover activities such as crypto assets, tokens, crypto exchanges, and initial coin offerings, among others. The regulation for virtual assets in Oman is important, as it will provide a clear and secure framework for the growth of the virtual assets industry. The move towards digitalization and the adoption of virtual assets aligns with the Sultanate’s Vision 2040 of a digitally transformed economy and financial sector, while attracting foreign investments into Oman.

Number one ranking University in Dubai UAE is accepting crypto payments with Binance Pay

Number one ranking University in Dubai UAE is accepting crypto payments with Binance Pay

UAE’s Canadian University in Dubai is accepting crypto payments through Binance. In a twitter post the Canadian University Dubai announced that it had collaborated with Binance Pay to offer crypto as a payment method.

According to the post Binance Pay is a contactless secure crypto payment technology.

Students of Canadian University Dubai can use Binance Pay to pay their fees. 

According to the QS World University Rankings 2022, Canadian University Dubai is ranked first in Dubai. There are more than 70 supported cryptocurrencies on Binance Pay, including Cardano (ADA), Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and others.

In February 2023 as well, 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, which is utilizing Binance Pay.

In late January 2023, UAE Emirates Zone Investment Services 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.

In October 2022 in Chainalysis’s blog report, MENA based crypto users received $566 billion worth of cryptocurrency in one year from July 2021 to June 2022. As per the news, this is a 48 percent increase from 2020-2021.

Kraken closes its UAE office, Chainalysis hires for MENA

Kraken closes its UAE office, Chainalysis hires for MENA

As per Bloomberg Kraken, crypto exchange based out of Abu Dhabi UAE has closed its office  while Chainalysis lays off 4.8 percent of its global workforce, but continues to hire in the MENA region.

Kraken has closed its  third office in less than a year. The first one was its headquarters in San Francisco, then Japan and now UAE.

Kraken had received a full license to operate in the UAE in April 2022.  With these closures have come layoffs. Kraken announced back in November 2022 that it would be laying off 30 percent of its workforce, equivalent to 1,100 employees.

As per Bloomberg, Kraken laid off the majority of its team in the MENA region, a total of 8 people. Benjamin Ampen, managing director for the region, will stay with the firm. On the Abu Dhabi market registry, Kraken is no longer listed as an active exchange.

In addition the exchange has suspended support for transactions in the AED, but clients in the region will still be able to use other products and services. That doesn’t require a local license, the spokesperson said.

In parallel, Chainalysis which last year had hinted to opening an office in the UAE hiring many employees as a prelude, also lays off part of its workforce globally but not in the UAE nor in the MENA region.  Actually while Chainalysis is laying off about 44 of its 900 employees, 4.8% of its workforce, it is continuing to hire for its operational expansion in the MENA region.

Sources close to Chainalysis within the UAE told LaraontheBlock that Chainalysis are actually hiring in the MENA region given the growth of crypto in countries such as Morocco with the potential to see KSA and Qatar on boarded into the crypto ecosystem in the future.

In an official statement, Chainalysis confirmed that it did not open its office in the UAE yet. It also stated with regards to the layoffs, “Chainalysis announced reorganization primarily impacting our go-to-market team – in order to meet new challenges and opportunities in the market. As a part of this reorg, some folks will have new roles, responsibilities, and reporting lines. Unfortunately we will also part ways with some incredibly talented people within our team. Chainalysis is well capitalized and will continue to hire and build out teams aligned with our refocused strategy in 2023.”

In July 2022, The UAE’s Ministry of Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications signed a preliminary agreement with blockchain data platform Chainalysis to provide virtual training programs for the country’s government entities.

So while some crypto entities close their offices and lay off employees in the MENA region, others continue to hire because the MENA region is a crypto growth market! So is it really the fault of the crypto winter or is it the fault of internal organizational issues and maybe even slow crypto regulation? 

Whatever the case while we say goodbye to Kraken, we welcome Chainalysis and many others to come!

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.