Binance MENA to offer crypto cards with MasterCard as part of 90 million stores initiative

Binance MENA to offer crypto cards with MasterCard as part of 90 million stores initiative

On August 23rd 2022,  Michael Miebach the CEO of MasterCard posted on LinkedIn, “We can unlock the full potential of blockchain technology when we make it easier to access and easier to use. One way we do that is by bringing crypto to everyday purchases. To make that a reality, we’re working with Binance to let people use their crypto to make purchases at 90 million stores that accept MasterCard. We are launching this work in Argentina with plans to expand from there.” 

It seems that the expansion will be in the MENA region and come very soon.

So as mentioned, MasterCard and Binance will start offering customers the opportunity to pay for items with their Bitcoin and BNB, using a Binance Card. A prepaid card, that bridges crypto and fiat currencies, in Argentina. The plan is to then roll out this offer to include 90 million stores worldwide.

The Binance Card can be used by anyone with a valid national ID to pay bills and make purchases with the card, using their Bitcoin and BNB holdings.

The first stop was Argentina launched earlier in August 2022, with speculations that the USA, and Venezuela or other countries that are big on crypto would be next.

But it seems that expansions could actually start in the MENA region. Richard Teng, Binance regional Head of MENA also posted on LinkedIn two days after Michael and stated, “Excited to announce our partnership with MasterCard on crypto cards and payment. Introducing this soon in MENA. Watch this space….”

This clearly indicates that the next stop for the Binance MasterCard partnership will be in MENA and most probably in the UAE. The UAE has one of the most forward looking crypto regulations globally as well as being the third biggest crypto user base in MENA.

In January 2022 a report published by TripleA cryptocurrency Payments Company, showed that Morocco topped the Arab countries in terms of crypto owners or users followed by Egypt, UAE, and then KSA. The report stated that in 2021 global crypto ownership was estimated at an average of 3.9 percent, 300 million crypto users and 18,000 businesses already accepting crypto payments.

Security token regulations to be issued in Saudi Arabia by end of 2022

Security token regulations to be issued in Saudi Arabia by end of 2022

In an interview with CNBC Al Arabia, Yazeed Saleh Aldemaigi Deputy, Strategy & International Affairs, at Saudi Capital Market Authority (CMA) announced that regulations for Security Token offerings (STO) will be out before the end of 2022 in Saudi Arabia.

As per the interview, application for STO offerings will be available on the CMA digital platform by end of 2022. He added that the Fintech Lab at CMA has been working on finding the most appropriate environments for FinTech startups.

The STO regulations that will come out at the end of 2022 will help to attract foreign investment firms interested in the FinTech domain in KSA as well as support local companies.

The Fintech Lab from CMA was launched in 2017.  It aimed to provide a regulatory framework that is conducive for the innovation of Financial Technology (FinTech) in the capital market within the Kingdom.

One of the business models under the Fintech Lab was related to use of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) to arrange the Offering of Securities and Custody Services. It is a platform that uses Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) to arrange the offering of securities (Sukuk as a preliminary stage) to investors, in coordination with the Issuer and the Authorized Person (AP) assigned by the Issuer as an Offering Advisor.

Oman New Securities Law provisions for regulation of virtual assets

Oman New Securities Law provisions for regulation of virtual assets

Oman Capital Market Authority recently issued its new Securities Law (46/2022) which  stipulates that the authority can “Agree to application of technologies, virtual digital investments or any products or services in the areas related to the provisions of this law, as set out in the Regulation.”

In an article in Oman Observer, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Salim Al Salmi, Executive President of the  Oman Capital Market Authority states, “ The law will contribute to the growth of FinTech based services as the law authorizes the authority to regulate innovative financing, approval of FinTech based apps and virtual investments. The law also allows expanding the financing options by regulating new products and services.”

In March of 2022, Oman Capital Markets Authority (CMA), invited companies interested in helping it set up a regulatory framework for virtual assets to participate in a tender process. According to sources, the regulatory framework should be finalized by Q3 of 2022.

The new Securities Law is only further proof of the commitment Oman government and Capital Market has for developing its virtual assets framework and allowing the trade and investment in virtual assets in the future. This could pave the way for security token issuances in the Oman stock market a bold step into the future of investments and stock trading. 

MENA Investors invest 5 million USD in TGV4 Plus 146 million Follow on Fund

MENA Investors invest 5 million USD in TGV4 Plus 146 million Follow on Fund

 True Global Ventures 4 Plus (TGV4 Plus) Fund has closed its US$146m Follow on Fund. The Follow on Fund will double down on the TGV4 base fund investments, the likes of Animoca, Sandbox, Forge, Chromaway, CoinHouse, GCEX, and others. Interestingly 40 percent of the Follow on Fund was raised from partners in Middle East, India and Asia. Investment from Middle East partners was 3.4 percent of the 40 percent making their total participation 5 million USD. While portfolio companies such as GCEX, Enjinstarter and IoMob have established operations in Dubai UAE. TGV4 Plus has been partnering with MENA based investors including Cypher Capital and Crypto Oasis among others. 

Valerie Hawley, Affiliate Founding Partner, Middle East True Global Ventures 4 Plus , told LaraOntheBlock, “More than 40% of the Follow on Fund has been raised from partners based in the Middle East, India and Asia, of those 3.4 percent were from Middle East Partners in particular. This just goes to show the increasing importance this region has to play in the Venture Capital space.  Numerous portfolio companies from our base fund, GCEX, Enjinstarter and IoMob, have established operations in Dubai, and we expect many more to do so given the crypto friendly environment the UAE has established with the creation of VARA (Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority).”

The TGV4 plus Follow on Fund  whose 15 General Partners (GP), lead the fund and its Investment Committee, put in more than US$62m of their money into the fund. This is a total GP commitment of over 40% of the total fund size and over US$4m per GP on average. The first capital call of the fund has been fully paid in.

The TGV 4 Plus base fund invested in serial entrepreneurs leading globally ambitious Blockchain start-ups. It covers 20 cities in North America, Europe and Asia. The fund is dedicated to Web3 companies, primarily in late-stage Series A, B and C across 3 verticals: Entertainment & gaming, financial services, infrastructure & data analytics / Artificial Intelligence (AI).

It has invested in some of the leading Web3 companies such as Animoca Brands, The Sandbox, Forge, Chromaway, Coinhouse, GCEX, Chronicled and others. 

The new Follow on Fund will focus on investing a majority of its capital into selected TGV 4 Plus base fund companies. It might also invest in other late stage Web3 deals opportunistically.

“The base fund has been a fantastic success, but we are still only in the starting blocks of Web3. We believe that our early winners will grow even stronger and with the Follow on Fund, we give our partners an opportunity to invest more into these companies” says Fredrik Adolfsson, General Partner.

“After some years of growth, our best portfolio companies are looking to expand even further. We want to help and assist them with the Follow On Fund, as we are ready on the starting blocks, when many growth funds focus on regaining investors’ trust during this period”, says Konrad Wawruch, General Partner.

General Partner Dušan Stojanović adds, “We raised the money in record time in 4 months and we believe this is the best time to invest during market corrections. I would say that it is much easier to see more clearly who the winners are now. This has created a high level of confidence amongst our investors who have seen a large GP Commit and the first call being executed very quickly”.

UAE ZelaaPayAE to introduce crypto payment credential with VisaNet

UAE ZelaaPayAE to introduce crypto payment credential with VisaNet

UAE based ZelaaPayAE, with headquarters in Sharjah Tech Park and offices in Dubai, which works to integrate fiat and crypto payments utilizing Polygon Blockchain infrastructure, has now joined Visa’s Fintech Fast Track program for a period of five years, to speed up the process of integrating with visa while introducing crypto backed payment credential in the UAE and wider CEMEA region.

As per ZelaaPayAE twitter post, “In this 5-year long partnership with Visa, we are focused on growing across United Arab Emirates and KSA region. ZelaaPayAE shall continue to identify and develop payment products such as collateralized spending and more throughout the span of this collaboration.”

They add, “This accolade now enables us as a fintech provider to enable crypto-transactions using physical debit cards easier and accessible with over 70 million merchants that comprise Visa’s vast ecosystem. It will also allow us to innovate further and surf beyond just debit cards.”

“I have dreamt of making ZelaaPayAE a pioneering fintech startup in the UAE and one of the first movers towards providing alternative financial solutions to the end consumer in this region. By joining Visa’s Fast Track program, this will now be possible and our demographic reach will be limitless as we strive to push for adoption and further utility of payments through cryptocurrencies,” said Sahil Arora, CEO & Founder of ZelaaPayAE.

Alex McCrea, VP, Head of Strategic Partnerships and Ventures for Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, Visa, said: ““We’re delighted to welcome ZelaaPayAE to Visa’s Fintech Fast Track program and excited to work with them on the enablement of secure and seamless crypto payments in the UAE. We have no doubt the team at ZelaaPayAE will leverage access to the experts, technology and resources that the program allows to scale with efficiency and expand access to crypto payments.”

Recently ZelaaPay announced that that Cagau store in Dubai are now accepting cryptocurrencies at their store using Bitcoin, USDT, BNB, TRX through ZelaaPay’s XPOS powered by PundixLabs.  

ZelaaPay partnered with Lead Ventures in the UAE.

UAE Midchains has also partnered recently with Visa Fast track to offer the same services as ZelaayPay’s partnership with Visa. 

UAE Private Fintech firm invests in UAE Decentralized Digital asset exchange

UAE Private Fintech firm invests in UAE Decentralized Digital asset exchange

UAE Blockchain enabled LedgerFi, valuated at 6.3 million USD has just completed its seed round investment from a UAE private Fintech firm. As per their website LedgerFi which utilizes XDC blockchain network, wants to become the world’s first Decentralized Digital Asset Exchange ( DDAX) where users can transfer all types of digital assets.

LedgerFi IT Solutions is disrupting the traditional ways of exchanging digital assets, digital energy & digital property by enabling the users of Web 3.0 to adopt & adapt a peer-to-peer, censorship resistant and decentralized ecosystem. It is also extending the use case of transfer of digital assets beyond crypto currencies and enabling users with a seamless platform for exchange of emails, messages, data, files, information, digital currencies and even NFTs.

LedgerFi recently launched its flagship product called as LedgerMail which is the world’s first blockchain email service operating on a hybrid blockchain platform of XDC network. So far LedgerMail has onboarded more than 750,000 users and also partnered with big tech enterprises for secure, private & encrypted email communication.

Founder and CEO at LedgerFi, Mr. Vinay Krishna quoted, “We are thrilled to complete our Pre-Seed Investment round. Now we are working on benchmarking the Web 3.0 communication ecosystem and build a futuristic, simplistic and transformative ecosystem for the individuals and businesses.”

As per the pressrelease, LedgerFi will utilize this investment for catalyzing the technological development of new solutions which will complement the existing products, and LedgerFi will also operationalize its entity with business expansion in the UAE.

Oman Central Bank official announces CBDC project

Oman Central Bank official announces CBDC project

The Executive President of the Central Bank of Oman, Mr. Tahir Salim Al Amri, commented during the 7t Edition of the new Age Banking Summit on the topic of CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies)

As per a tweet from Oman News Agency stated, “The Central Bank of Oman is working to issue its own CBDC. Many central banks are studying the possibility of issuing their own CBDCs and the Central Bank of Oman is committed to supporting innovation in the financial sector.”

He also mentioned that work was underway to open banking API services and overcoming challenges that face the digitization sector, and stressed the importance of cyber security.

In April 2022, Oman Capital Market Authority announced that it would incorporate real estate tokenization within its virtual assets regulation as well as license crypto exchanges. The Oman virtual asset regulation will be finalized by Q3 of 2022.

Kemal Rizadi, Advisor at the Oman Capital Market Authority made these comments during the Real Estate Exhibition and Conference held in Muscat Oman. As per the comments, real estate tokenization is an option being considered in the proposed virtual asset regulatory framework under process within CMA.

Earlier this year in January 2022 The Oman capital markets Authority announced a tender for specialized companies to assist in setting up a legislative and regulatory framework for virtual assets and licensing supervision and regulations of Virtual assets service providers within the Sultanate of Oman.

Finally it also seems that Oman is indirectly starting to enter the crypto mining sector. Oman’s sovereign wealth fund took an equity stake in a U.S. firm which helps fossil-fuel producers cut flaring by using stranded natural gas to power cryptocurrency mining instead.

Oman Investment Authority was part of the $350 million equity round that Crusoe Energy Systems Inc. raised in April, 2022 according to a statement.

US based Crusoe is opening an office in Oman to deploy power generators and mining equipment for capturing gas at well sites. These statements were made by CEO of Crusoe Chase Lochmiller. It is known that MENA accounts for about 38 percent of the world’s gas flaring.

Blockchain Expert Don Tapscott speaking at Blockchain Revolution Summit in Qatar

Blockchain Expert Don Tapscott speaking at Blockchain Revolution Summit in Qatar

Qatar will witness a blockchain revolution summit on the 26th of May 2022 at St. Regis Doha Qatar, with the participation of Dr. Don Tapscott, Executive Chairman of the Blockchain Research Institute, and well known as a leading Blockchain expert.

The summit is being organized by the Blockchain Research Institute Middle East, the first regional branch of Blockchain Research Institute based out of Qatar. The event is set to discuss opportunities to create industry solution frameworks and guidelines leveraging blockchain technologies to secure data, reduce costs and improve timelines.

The interesting highlights of this summit are the speakers and sponsors. Aside from Don Tapscott, speakers include Fadi Nasser, Chief Commercial Officer of Meeza Qatar. Meeza is also sponsoring the event. Nebil Ben Aissa, Chief Executive officer for Nexxo, a private equity investment network dedicated to FinTech is also participating.

In addition Khalid Al Ansari a Doctor of Law (JD) and a Ph.D. candidate in Islamic Finance and Economy at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Doha, Qatar currently working on finalizing his Ph.D. dissertation in digital economy and blockchain, is also participating as a speaker.  

While both, Shahid A Syed, Head of Transaction Banking & Innovation Dukhan Bank and Mr. Gudni Stiholt Adalsteinsson Acting CEO Doha Bank & Chief Treasury & Investment Officer are also participating as speakers with Doha Bank sponsoring as well.

Dr. Ammar Darwish Al-Obaidani President of the Oman Blockchain Club (2017-2019) is also participating. Since 2019, he has been leading a government company that develops customized integrated digital solutions as a CEO (Frontier Technology LLC).

The significance lies in the level of participants which including the banking and academic sector as well as investors.

This summit comes at a significant time in Qatar. In April for example Qatar Airways announced  it has stepped into the metaverse with the launch of Qverse a Virtual reality experience for visitors on its website with MetaHuman cabin crew, called Sama giving virtual tours. Sama’s name originates from Arabic and translates to ‘sky’. She is a high fidelity digital human brought to life using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, real-time 3D creation tool that’s used by leading game makers. Neutral Digital developed the VR experience for Qatar airways.

In addition Ooreedo Qatar, mobile telecom group, will be holding its EA Sports FIFA22 Champions Cup being entirely broadcasted in the metaverse and will offer exclusive NFT tokens. The tournament is taking place on May May 24, 25, and 28 at Aspire Ladies Sports Hall in Doha in front of e-Sports enthusiasts who will get the chance to see prominent gamers compete for the title.

Major FIFA and Qatari influencers will also attend the tournament, in addition to a plethora of entertainment and activities to ensure an unforgettable night. Ooredoo Nation – Gamers’ Land, the company’s own eSports brand, will also offer a selection of exclusive non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

“We are proud and excited to be venturing into the world of Web 3.0 technologies with this latest eSports development, which aligns perfectly with our strategic commitment to investment in innovation,” said Nasser bin Hamad bin Nasser Al Thani, Chief Commercial Officer at Ooredoo.

“We see eSports as one of the key areas of focus in this digital era, and an area in which we can explore the many opportunities to offer our customers an unrivalled experience.”

This comes after FIFA2022 announced that crypto.com will be sponsoring and AlGorand Blockchain will be a partner. It also comes after CoinMENA, crypto exchange announced it is serving clients in Qatar which prompted a reply from Qatar Central Bank noting that it has not licensed any crypto exchanges in Qatar and will take legal actions against any crypto exchange which claims to be operating with a license in Qatar. When questioned by LaraontheBlock Dina Semaan noted, “ People took this out of context, we never said we were licensed or regulated in Qatar, we said we now offer our services to Qatar, which could be from any location in the world and in this case from our licensed entity in Bahrain.” She added, “We can support all GCC countries and other MENA countries upon approval from Central Bank of Bahrain.”