Saudi, Russia, and Iran to deal in Bitcoin and Qatar to pull trigger with Bitcoin buy

Saudi, Russia, and Iran to deal in Bitcoin and Qatar to pull trigger with Bitcoin buy

Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran to start doing deals in Bitcoin, this is a statement made on X by no other than Max Keiser, the well-known Bitcoin influencer and the host of Keiser report, who is as well senior Bitcoin advisor to Nayib Bukele, the President of El Salvador.

As per Keiser’s statement, on X, “Russia, KSA, Iran will start doing deals in Bitcoin. Qatar knows this and is pulling the trigger on a huge BTC buy for their SWF (Sovereign Wealth Fund).”

This comes just days after Keiser stated that the Qatar sovereign Fund would be buying $500 billion of Bitcoin. Keiser had stated on X, “I have 1 word for you $100,000 Bitcoin God Candle fans. QATAR, the rumors are getting very loud on this. Their SWF (Sovereign Wealth Fund) rumored to looking to buy 1/2 trillion BTC (Bitcoin).”

Months prior to this Qatar was touted as discussing Bitcoin mining during the visit of HH Prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani of Qatar to El Salvador but nothing materialized on that front yet.

Keiser is a longtime Bitcoin advocate and educator, having advised people to buy Bitcoin since the price was $1.

With his statements Keiser seems to imply that the top GCC countries, Iran, and Russia plans to break away from the U.S. dollar and gravitate towards Bitcoin for trade.

Some would say that given that the Qatar Investment Authority founded in 2005 in October 2023, had an estimated $475 billion of assets under management would they use all that to buy Bitcoin? Qatar has not even legalized the trade of cryptocurrencies and neither has Saudi Arabia, Iran, or Russia.

In January 2023, Qatar Investment Authority CEO Mansoor Ebrahim Al-Mahmoud told Bloomberg that they would be interested in the credit space, and AI (Artificial Intelligence) as a theme of investments. In 2022 the CEO of Qatar Sovereign Wealth Fund showed interest in investing in Blockchain but shunned crypto.

Could the strained relationships with the United States be pushing forward this movement towards de-dollarization in the form of utilization of Bitcoin?

Another interesting analysis could be that Qatar is actually interested in Bitcoin mining in El Salvador.  El Salvador was noted as entering a public private partnership worth $1billion to create the world’s largest Bitcoin mining farm. Volcano Energy has developed the first mining pool in El Salvador with Luxor Technology.

This according to Volcano Energy is a $1 billion Bitcoin mining project set to transform El Salvador through the development and operation of renewable energy plants. Could Qatar one of the most experienced and highly invested renewable energy country be interested in this project? Maybe just maybe yes!

Binance drops Abu Dhabi, keeps Dubai, but will Dubai drop Binance?

Binance drops Abu Dhabi, keeps Dubai, but will Dubai drop Binance?

Binance one of the biggest global crypto exchanges has withdrawn and dropped its license application with Abu Dhabi’s ADGM ( Abu Dhabi Global Market) while it retains its license application at Dubai’s VARA ( Virtual asset regulatory authority).

This comes exactly one year after Binance received a Financial Services Permission (FSP) from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the international financial center of the UAE’s capital emirate.

The withdrawn license would have allowed Binance to manage a Collective Investment Fund, under conditions that BV Investment Management Limited may not hold or control Client Assets; and BV Investment Management Limited may not deal with Retail Clients as defined under the FSRA Conduct of Business Rules (COBS).

This should not be a surprise given that recently Richard Teng, Binance’s new CEO during the FT Crypto and Digital Assets Summit, would not name the location of the company’s headquarters yet admitted that Binance’s Middle Eastern headquarters is in Dubai, while its European headquarters is in France.

He suggested that the location of the global headquarters would be disclosed when deemed appropriate.

So it seems that Binance is putting all its license eggs in one basket in the UAE, with Dubai’s VARA. Some have speculated that most probably they will receive the license in Dubai and thus do not need to have one in Abu Dhabi. Yet the License in Dubai is still not in the bag.

In early December Dubai’s virtual asset regulator came out with a statement, saying that it is continuing to asses and monitor Binance activities to strict regulatory requirements, rigorous KYC and due diligence. As per VARA, Binance FZE crypto exchange currently only holds a Minimum Viable Product [MVP] Operational License with VARA, which allows them access to a restricted client base. As such to date, Binance has on boarded approximately 180 qualified investors and institutional clients.

As per Reuters, the exchange deemed it unnecessary given the reassessment of global licensing needs.

Binance’s custodial license application within ADGM is still active until May 2024.

Binance is not the only crypto exchange to have withdrawn its license in ADGM, BitOasis also withdrew its license in ADGM, as has DEX.

This comes after M2 became a fully licensed crypto exchange from Abu Dhabi UAE which can offer retail clients crypto exchange services.

South Korean WeMade game developer and DIFC Innovation hub to build WEMIX Play Web3 community

South Korean WeMade game developer and DIFC Innovation hub to build WEMIX Play Web3 community

South Korean game developer, Wemade, and UAE DIFC (Dubai International Financial Zone), Innovation Hub partner to build WEMIX Play web3 gaming community to support Dubai Program for Gaming 2033.

The Wemade-DIFC Innovation Hub collaboration plans to focus on core initiatives, including establishing WEMIX PLAY Center within the DIFC Innovation Hub for WEMIX PLAY. Wemade and DIFC Innovation hub will onboard game companies and facilitate the raising of $100 million Web3 gaming fund to  support the developers, studios and entrepreneurs.

Dubai is a leading business hub with advanced financial services and policies for fostering economic growth, investor attraction, blockchain, and cryptocurrency. Aided by DIFC Innovation Hub, Wemade aims to maintain close communication with UAE crypto-regulating bodies for making the Middle East business strategy as per up-to-date trends.

Wemade is also working on an application for Crypto Token Recognition from the Dubai Financial Services Authority, the DIFC’s Financial Regulator. Tokens conferred with this status will allow financial institutions in the DIFC to carry out transactions with them, to be used by over 4,900 companies in the special economic zone.

Binance executes first crypto triparty agreement with a bank partner

Binance executes first crypto triparty agreement with a bank partner

Binance in a recent press release dated November 30th 2023 and coming out of Dubai UAE has announced that it has successfully executed the world’s first cryptocurrency triparty arrangement with a third party banking partner. As per the release, the solution enables institutional investors to keep trading collateral, off-exchange in the custody of a third party banking partner. This is the first in a series of pilot projects initiated by Binance, which is currently the only cryptocurrency exchange offering such a solution.

Binance does not mention the name of the bank, but states that this arrangement directly tackles the issue of counterparty risk, the primary concern for institutional investors today. It replicates a framework common in traditional financial markets, which enables investors to proportion their crypto-asset allocation based on their risk tolerance. Collateral held with the banking partner can be in the form of fiat equivalent such as Treasury Bills which has the added benefit of being a yielding asset.

Catherine Chen, Head of VIP and Institutional at Binance, said, “Counterparty risk has long been a concern of institutional investors across the industry. Our team of crypto natives and traditional finance professionals has been exploring a banking triparty agreement for more than a year to address their concern. We’ve developed a solution that ensures our institutional clients can optimize their collateral and cryptocurrency investments, modeled after the traditional markets’ trading conduct. We are in close discussions with an array of banking partners and institutional investors who have also expressed strong interest in participating.”

UAE regulated, Laser Digital integrates with Institutional digital asset provider Talos

UAE regulated, Laser Digital integrates with Institutional digital asset provider Talos

Laser Digital, crypto broker and investment service provider, a subsidiary of Japanese Nomura has integrated with Talos, which provides an institutional-grade technology infrastructure that supports the full lifecycle of digital assets trading and procurement including liquidity sourcing, price discovery, trade execution, settlement, lending, and borrowing.

As per the press release,this partnership broadens Laser Digital’s reach among institutional clients while adding a new source of institutional-grade liquidity to the Talos network.

“We are proud to join forces with Talos to expand institutional access to digital assets,” said Jez Mohideen, CEO of Laser Digital. “Talos and Laser Digital share a heritage in traditional financial markets and a common goal to simplify digital asset trading in a way that is familiar and trusted by institutions”

Laser Diigtal’s quant-driven liquidity provision and market-making capabilities are powered by a proprietary technology platform based on years of experience in systematic trading.

“We are thrilled to welcome Laser Digital to the Talos provider network, reinforcing our commitment to providing comprehensive trading solutions to institutional clients,” said Anton Katz, CEO and Co-Founder of Talos. “Laser Digital stands out in the digital asset landscape and will enrich the liquidity available to Talos clients looking to achieve best execution.”

Prior to this Laser Diigtal launched an Ethereum adoption fund.

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.

Eighteen Dubai based virtual asset providers fined by Dubai’s regulator

Eighteen Dubai based virtual asset providers fined by Dubai’s regulator

In a market notice issued November 17th 2023, the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), confirmed that the deadline for VA sector to engage in the regulatory license elapsed today and that eighteen virtual asset service providers commercially licensed on mainland under Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) have thus far, been issued fines for failing to comply with VARA’s directives and regulatory guidance.

A VARA spokesperson declined to name the eighteen entities in question.

As per the notice, in line with VARA’s commitment to protect consumers, maintain market integrity, and manage security of the Virtual Economy being enabled in and from Dubai, these enforcement actions are a pre-requisite to remedy compliance breaches and assure global markets that VARA’s regime can be trusted to have consistency and resilience in deployment.

The Dubai virtual asset regulator stated that this would be an ongoing process, with additional fines, enforcement actions, and closure of unlicensed VASPs expected. VASPs have until year end to address any regulatory gaps.

Entities seeking to continue to offer virtual asset services in Dubai are urged to contact VARA immediately to avoid further penalties. Consumers are advised to check the VARA website for advice on approved VASPs in Dubai. For further information, please contact VARA via our website or via

This comes a day after CEO Henson Orser stepped down, and 10 days after VARA issued a notice asking all VASPs to finalize their license registrations and requirements.

But there have also been positive news in the VASP licensing arena, with entities such as Fuze Finance receiving a license as well as HexTrust and BackBack in the past 10 days.

UAE home grown Fuze Finance receives license from Dubai virtual asset regulator

UAE home grown Fuze Finance receives license from Dubai virtual asset regulator

UAE based Fuze Finance under the licensed name Morpheus Software Technology (FUZE) FZE has just received a full VASP license from Dubai’s Virtual asset regulatory Authority. Fuze offers embedded digital asset capabilities for financial institutions as a digital asset infrastructure provider for the Middle East.

VARA’s license will allow Fuze Finance to offer broker dealer services, allowing them to serve institutional investors, retail and qualified investors. Through this licence, the business will be able to serve customers through two core service lines: firstly, via digital assets as a service (DAAS) enabling banks, fintechs and enterprises to integrate B2B2C digital asset products natively into their channels and secondly, through a regulated Over-The-Counter (OTC) service providing investors with a technology-first option for executing institutional-level digital asset trading with ease and efficiency.

With a regional digital asset market worth $566bn, and growing at 48% YoY, Fuze co-founder and CEO, Mohammed Ali Yusuf believes the Middle East is the perfect home to establish a digital assets infrastructure business.

Ali Yufu on receiving the license noted, “We thank VARA for assessing and approving our licence. VARA’s comprehensive and consultative process demonstrates the robust framework at the heart of this booming industry. Across the UAE, digital assets businesses are being welcomed to a thriving ecosystem with regulation that matches rapid innovation and adoption. Businesses can now have full confidence in the regulated infrastructure that Fuze provides, as we support the world’s fastest-growing digital assets hub.”

In September 2023 UAE headquartered Fuze Finance, raised a seed round of $14mn, the largest Seed investment in a digital assets startup in the history of the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA). The investment was led by Abu Dhabi-based Further Ventures, along with participation by US-based Liberty City Ventures.

Fuze wanted to benefit from the strategic capital and network of these investors, acting as a catalyst for the business as it builds the digital asset infrastructure that will drive the future of finance.  A first-of-its-kind infrastructure provider in MENA, Fuze enables any bank, fintech or traditional enterprise to easily offer regulated digital assets products to their customers through their native apps.

Fuze was founded by an expert team of fintech, traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi) leaders, with its co-founders holding extensive knowledge from experience in global hypergrowth businesses.

CEO, Mohammed Ali Yusuf (Mo Ali Yusuf) has held prominent roles at Checkout.com and Visa; Arpit Mehta (COO) was previously in the leadership team at fintech leaders like Simpl and Clear; Srijan Shetty (CTO) built algorithmic trading systems at Goldman Sachs and worked at tech leader Microsoft.

Yusuf at the time of raise stated, “We are excited to build the future of regulated financial infrastructure and digital assets out of the UAE. Regulations have played a pivotal role in propelling the UAE into a central position within the global Digital Assets industry. To receive the backing of Abu Dhabi-headquartered Further Ventures combined with the deep expertise of US-based Liberty City Ventures, confirms the relevancy and potential of Fuze’s mission to rapidly expand our cutting-edge infrastructure across the region.”

Article updated on November 20th 2023

Dubai virtual assets regulator appoints new CEO amid intensified regulatory efforts

Dubai virtual assets regulator appoints new CEO amid intensified regulatory efforts

Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) in a press release has announced that Mathew White will be the new CEO of VARA which comes as VARA intensifies its efforts towards regulating the VASPs in Dubai calling on them to finalize their applications today.

As per the press release, Matthew White has 20 years of experience in technology, cyber security and digital trust while working as a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Former CEO Henson Orser who is leaving to pursue other opportunities will remain fully engaged to support the new CEO as he integrates into his new role.

In a Bloomberg article it noted that VARA is poised to levy fines on over a dozen crypto firms, as the head of Dubai’s crypto regulator is poised to depart after less than a year on the job.

The news comes as VARA calls on more than 1000 legacy firms to complete their applications to register under Dubai’s unique regulatory framework by November 17th 2023, as part of Dubai’s commitment to fostering a transparent and resilient virtual asset environment.

VARA is calling on VASPs that have yet to submit the applications, have missed the notifications from their commercial licensing authorities, or have submitted incomplete forms to proactively get in touch, to avoid unintended regulatory consequences.

It seems with new VARA CEO efforts will be focused on ensuring compliance to regulatory and FATF requirements by VASPs.

Marathon Digital mines 18 Bitcoins from UAE with expected 7 exahashes online by end of 2023

Marathon Digital mines 18 Bitcoins from UAE with expected 7 exahashes online by end of 2023

Marathon Digital Holding, a crypto mining entity has mined 18 Bitcoin out of the 1,202 Bitcoin produced in October 2023 from its UAE joint venture with 2.3 exahashes online in Abu Dhabi with 7 exahashes to be online by end of 2023. The figures were published in its unaudited Bitcoin BTC production and miner installation updates for October 2023.

Fried Thiel, Marathon Digital’s Chairman and CEO  stated in their press release, “  “In October, we increased our energized hash rate 1% to 19.2 exahashes as the facility in Garden City, Texas, where we have 4.1 exahashes of miners installed, began to come online. Once this facility is fully operational later this month, we will have surpassed our 23 exahash target and solidified Marathon as the largest publicly traded Bitcoin miner in North America.”

In terms of the operation in UAE, Thiel added, “By increasing our hash rate and continuing to improve our operations at the facility in McCamey, Texas and elsewhere, we earned 4.0% of the total Bitcoin network’s available miner rewards and produced 1,202 bitcoin in October. This total includes 18 bitcoin from our 20% share of the JV in Abu Dhabi. We now have 2.3 exahashes online in Abu Dhabi as our second, larger facility in Masdar City has begun powering up. We continue to expect the full 7.0 exahashes in the UAE to be online by year-end.

“We have also been exploring new methods of mining that we believe may allow us to further diversify our operations, reduce our energy costs, and increase our sustainable energy mix. We recently announced a pilot project in Utah that is exclusively powered by landfill methane gas. Naturally produced methane is often stranded, and Bitcoin miners like Marathon are uniquely positioned to help capture and convert this environmentally harmful gas into clean, renewable energy. We look forward to sharing more of the many innovative mining projects that we are exploring in the months ahead.”

Furthermore in November 8th Marathon Digital Holdings reported results for the third quarter 2023 including its operational results for the quarter ended September 30th 2023, Thiel made a statement showcasing how their international expansion in UAE has opened up new international opportunities such as Paraguay. He noted, “We made significant progress on our 2023 strategic  priorities in the  third quarter. First, we grew our energized hash rate 8% quarter-over-quarter to  19.1 exahashes. In addition, our new facility in Garden City started energizing last week and is  expected to be fully operational later this month. Second, we experienced significantly higher uptime  as  optimization  efforts  helped  increase  our  U.S. average operational hash  rate 18%  from last  quarter to  14.2 exahashes.  Third, we energized our first joint venture and our first international location in  the UAE. This initial success has helped open new opportunities, and we  recently entered into a new joint venture in Paraguay powered by hydroelectricity.

The Company recorded net income of $64.1 million, or $0.35 per diluted share, during the three months ended  September 30, 2023, compared  to a net loss  of $72.5 million, or $0.62 loss per share, in the same period last year.

Marathon Digital officially inaugurated it 200 MW Bitcoin mining facility at Masdar City in Abu Dhabi UAE, under the joint venture Two Zero. In January 27th 2022, Marathon digital Holdings, announced that it had entered into a shareholder’s agreement with FSI (FS Innovation), the BTC mining subsidiary of UAE ADQ a sovereign fund, to form an Abu Dhabi, (Abu Dhabi Global Markets) based company.