Why a Crypto ad on Saudi’s MBC is Big News!

Why a Crypto ad on Saudi’s MBC is Big News!

So even with the tumultuous times that the crypto market is seeing this past week, and despite the fear and apprehension on the state of crypto, stablecoins, and NFTs given the regulation discussions happening across the globe, one thing has kept my spirits high and optimistic. It is no other than the crypto TVC ad for BitOasis on MBC.

This is big news! Big News because it gives me a premonition that crypto will soon become a regulated mainstream item in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Most will ask, why link the BitOasis Crypto TVC with possible regulations in Saudi Arabia. The answer to me is simple. MBC Group is a media conglomerate owned by the Saudi government based out of MENA with headquarters in Dubai UAE.

So either MBC needs the money so badly it doesn’t care what ads air on their station, or MBC is warming up to crypto which could mean that the government of Saudi Arabia is warming up to crypto as well.

It is not so surprising; In Ramadan Saudi MBC Group launched their NFTS, Fananees, the most popular characters in digital intellectual property, the renowned seven cartoon characters with more than 200 different attributes. A total of 9,999 unique NFTs were revealed.

So when BitOasis TVC on MBC Group came out, it felt more like a continuation of MBC Group’s openness towards crypto and NFT scene. Ola Doudin, Founder and CEO of BitOasis said on LinkedIn, “We’re very proud to have launched the region’s first cryptocurrency television commercial in partnership with MBC GROUP, the largest media company in the Middle East and North Africa.”

Notice the word in partnership!

Doudin has on many occasions espoused the ambitions of BitOasis to expand across the MENA region, and their discussions with many regulators including Saudi Arabian.

So while yes, crypto is facing a bearish market, it doesn’t mean it is going away, on the contrary it is here to stay.

Finally one can’t pass over another big piece of news that has come out of the region this week. Dubai government is preparing a metaverse strategy that will be out in the next two months. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, has directed the formation of a higher committee to prepare the Dubai Metaverse Strategy. The higher committee will be headed by the Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and will supervise all future technological developments in the emirate.

 It reminds me of the Blockchain strategy that was announced in 2017, and look where the UAE is today, a strong crypto hub.

In the end you can’t have a metaverse without a digital currency of some sort and you can’t have a metaverse without a crypto economy.

So whenever you start losing hope or start getting the jitters, read these words above and remember that after the dot com bubble, there was a revival, and after the ICO bubble there was a revival, and today after the bearish times… good ones are just around the corner.

The Tug of War between the Wall Street of Crypto and the responsible Global crypto Hub

The Tug of War between the Wall Street of Crypto and the responsible Global crypto Hub

So Now the UAE is being dubbed the Wall Street of Crypto. The terminology was first coined by no other than CZ (Zhao Changpeng) the Founder of Binance, whom a BloomBerg article noted as saying that the UAE is definitely the headquarters of Binance. This is the first time in the history of Binance where it actually announces it even has a headquarter.

It would seem that the Wall Street of Crypto has ousted both France and Bahrain as the base for Binance, as well as Singapore which Binance retreated from several months ago.

In the meantime Binance is actually bringing on Wall Street veterans such as Vishal Sacheendran, the former New York Mellon Bank executive who now holds the position of UAE based director for the Middle East and North Africa.  Richard Teng the head of Middle East and North Africa at Binance says more appointments from the banking sector will follow.

So far the UAE has granted licenses to a handful of international and global crypto exchanges including the latest Kraken, in addition to Binance, crypto.com and others.

Despite this, Singapore is fighting back. Mr Ravi Menon, Managing Director, Monetary Authority of Singapore, explained during the Financial Times’ Crypto & Digital Assets Summit on 27 April 2022 how much effort Singapore has put into blockchain, digital assets and digital payments.

As Menon in his speech stated, “In the last two years, we have granted licenses or in-principle approvals to 11 digital payment tokens service providers. They include global stablecoin players like Paxos, crypto exchanges like Coinhako as well as established financial institutions like DBS Vickers.  We have also issued in-principle approvals to Revolut and Luno.”

He adds, “The licensing process is stringent because we want to be a responsible global crypto hub, with innovative players but also with strong risk management capabilities. We only approve applicants with strong governance structures, fit and proper board and management, and we go through their track record.”

This ofcourse comes after the UAE announced its virtual asset regulatory Authority and its open stance towards crypto.

The interesting take away from all of this is who will eventually win the tug of war to be the hub for blockchain, crypto, and digital asset innovation, will it be The Wall Street of Crypto or the responsible global crypto hub, or maybe another country all together.