Burency restarts its operations amidst tumultuous conditions

Burency restarts its operations amidst tumultuous conditions

Burency a UAE Blockchain development firm with crypto asset exchange operating out of offices in DWTC ( Dubai World Trade Center) in Dubai UAE, is restarting its operations after what it calls bad and out of control conditions. This restart is happening amidst a tumultuous conditions spurred by comments made from its previous managing Director.

So while Burency was announcing on twitter that they will be coming back soon stating, “ We are coming soon.. after bad and out of control conditions, we are back to work with great strength and passion. The Burency project is ongoing and will return better than before.”

On August 9th they stated, “ We are currently working on restarting the Burency Exchange and will notify you as soon as possible about the operating date. Full support will be provided to the project at all levels, including marketing, companies, and plans to develop the workflow and the project as a whole.”

However these comments come in parallel to a tweet by Qusai M Alsharef, former Managing Director of Burency. He writes, “Regrettably, I am writing to announce my resignation from my position “Managing Director” at Burency, effective from 2nd August 2023.” He explains the reasons stating, “The continuous violation for the accepted funding plan, coupled with unfulfilled Discussions, words and agreements to the work stakeholders came to really critical stage.  It is deeply disappointing to have encountered such unprofessional conduct, including deceptive promises and consistent violation of our established agreements. At the end, I truly wish for Burency to have an honest recovery to right and to see a responsible actions of eliminating all these highly critical issues starting from fulfilling the past.”

Historically Burency had also made announcements that were not fully backed up with real actions. In April 2020, Burency announced  that it had launched the first secured & insured crypto-currency exchange platform in Dubai, UAE which was later refuted by Nebbex.

The company while having a tech license in UAE, its crypto business is regulated in Estonia. It had stated it was seeking to be registered in the UAE but to this day has not.

In 2020 crypto advocate, John McAfee,  announced that he had joined the advisory board of Burency, but no further announcements or information was shared on this.

So it might seem that Burency wants to come out of the volcanoe stronger than ever, but its past seems to be haunting it to  present day.

UAE based Blockchain payments platform WadzPay in final stages of licensing and live testing of payments solution in KSA

UAE based Blockchain payments platform WadzPay in final stages of licensing and live testing of payments solution in KSA

In a recent tweet, the Founder of WadzPay, a blockchain technology payment provider with a presence in the UAE, Anish Jain, offered an update to the community stating that WadzPay had made strides on the licensing front and are in the “final stages”. In addition he added that WPC token would be listed on a Tier1 regulated exchange in the Middle East.

As for the WadzPay product it will be ready for launch in Q3 of this fiscal year with live terminals on WadzPay soon.

Prior to this in a LinkedIn post, WadzPay announced that its blockchain enabled payments platform was now technically live for Pilgrims in Saudi Arabia. The solution is intended to facilitate digital payments and creates a cashless experience in KSA.

As per the announcement, WadzPay works with large payment companies, banks, and global entities to enable virtual asset-based transaction processing and settlement.

Their private blockchain program will enable pilgrims to use mobile app-based wallets issued by an approved institution in their home country. Once the wallet is loaded before travel, the user can make purchases at the merchant POS terminals present at the various pilgrimage points. The solution is intended to facilitate digital payments and creates a cashless experience in Saudi Arabia.

The pilgrims can easily get their un-spent money back after they return to their home country.

Using this platform, WadzPay allows merchants to offer improved service to international pilgrims at a fraction of the current cost.

This program will be used for issuing wallets to pilgrims and acceptance of these wallets in merchant outlets in KSA. As per WadzPay brochure, “We have partnered with a major aggregator from KSA to enable the world’s first cross-border ‘cashless’ Hajj & Umrah program”. In November 2021 WadzPay had partnered with Geidea in KSA for cashless payments. 

DIFC Innovation Hub launches subsidized licenses for Web3, AI, and DLT technology companies

DIFC Innovation Hub launches subsidized licenses for Web3, AI, and DLT technology companies

The Dubai AI and Web 3.0 Campus, situated in Dubai International Financia Centre, announced that it will be issuing artificial intelligence (AI) and Web3 licenses supporting activities ranging from Distributed Ledger Technology Services (DLT), specialised Artificial Intelligence Research & consultancies, IT infrastructure builders, Technology Research and Development and Public Networking Services.

Licenses will be issued by Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the leading global financial centre in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region, which is currently home to an established ecosystem of tech enablers and start-ups at the DIFC Innovation Hub.

The Dubai AI and Web 3.0 Campus is a dedicated campus for AI and Web3 innovation and will provide state-of-the-art physical and digital infrastructure within the DIFC Innovation One new premises, including R&D facilities, accelerator programmes and collaborative workspaces, to attract, build and scale firms in the region. 

The campus was launched earlier this year and is supported by Dubai’s industry-leading regulatory regime aligned with the emirate’s vision of becoming a global leader in AI and Web3. This initiative is designed to bring in $300 million in funds and create more than 3,000 jobs in the next five years.

The campus will also increase accessibility and participation in Web3 development, backed by a collection of underlying technologies such as blockchain, AI, internet of things and the metaverse. Virtual assets owned in Web3 decentralised infrastructures represented about 40 per cent of the virtual-asset global economy in 2021, according to a report by BCG, and the transaction value of virtual assets is said to range between USD150 billion and USD300 billion by 2025. 

Mohammad Alblooshi, Chief Executive Officer of the DIFC Innovation Hub, said: “We are thrilled to announce that we are now granting innovative AI and Web3 companies licenses out of DIFC. The campus will foster a world-class nurturing environment that enables business growth and development. We are confident that by granting these licenses, we will attract more global talent and investment to the region and create a culture of collaboration and innovation. This is a notable milestone for the Dubai AI and Web3 Campus and will strengthen Dubai’s position as the business destination of choice for technology-focused companies and attract more world class talent and diversified investors to the region.”

Edelcoin Founder: The Future of Stablecoins is for those backed by real-world assets not fiat currencies

Edelcoin Founder: The Future of Stablecoins is for those backed by real-world assets not fiat currencies

Given the focus in the past months on the topic of stablecoins, and with the launch of Paypal’s stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar, centered around discussions on how stablecoins will fair in the future, it is very interesting to see Edelcoin’ s launch of a stablecoin, not backed by the dollar or eyuan but backed by real world assets!

Paypal in its press release for example stated, fully-backed, regulated stablecoins have the potential to transform payments in web3 and digitally native environments. Today the stablecoin market is a $120 billion according to data from TradingView yet it is expected to grow to $2.8 trillion in the next according to broker Bernstein research report released this month.

Yet stablecoins face challenges include regulatory uncertainty, technical vulnerabilities, market fluctuations, and liquidity issues. Here is how Edelcoin comes in. It is a stable payment token potentially inversely correlated to inflationary fiat currencies. According to its creators as a payment token decoupled from monetary policies and fiat currencies, Edelcoin serves as an effective hedge against inflation. Edelcoin is backed by real-world assets.

The Edelcoin payment token, issued out of Switzerland is backed by a basket of pre-existing precious and base metals. The Edelcoin basket is structured to be less volatile than single asset-backed tokens, providing a stable or low volatile store of value, detached from inflationary fiat currencies, independent from monetary policies. The Edelcoin token is issued as ERC-20 Token on Ethereum blockchain followed by additional EVM compatible chains and traded on centralized and crypto exchanges (secondary market).

Each Edelcoin has an excess reserve of backing metals, in total corresponding to 125% of the actual metals embodied by each Edelcoin. To learn more and understand this new concept of stablecoins, LaraontheBlock interviewed Edelcoin’s Founder Andreas Wiebe to learn more about the benefits of Edelcoin how stablecoins backed by dollar will falter, and their interest in expanding into the MENA region.

  

1. What is Edelcoin and why should a stablecoin backed by real assets be created? What are these global assets?

From my perspective, the only stablecoins that are truly stable are those backed by tangible resources like precious metals. Other underlying assets (such as other currencies, real estate, etc.) do not offer long-term security. Currently, Edelcoin is the only one globally backed by tangible resources like precious metals. Throughout history, precious metals have always been considered a form of security.

2. How does PayPal’s release of a USD-backed stablecoin contribute to the growth of the stablecoin market, and how does this fit into your plans for Edelcoin?

Anything backed by the dollar will already suffer significant losses in the upcoming year. We are already witnessing the global decline of the dollar. Now, the BRICS countries are introducing their own currencies, dealing a death blow to the dollar. The dollar has already lost its value. A 95% absolute decline! Worldwide, major countries are trying to sell off the dollar and exchange it for precious metals or other currencies.

3. What is Edelcoin linked to in terms of precious metals? Who owns it? Who stores it for you?

Edelcoin is tied to a basket of precious and industrial metals, providing absolute security. The precious metals are stored in vaults in Europe and Switzerland. These assets belong to our partners, who have collectively deposited them with us as the issuer.

4. How can Edelcoin users benefit?

First and foremost, I would recommend everyone to invest 10-20% of their fiat holdings into Edelcoin, thereby diversifying their overall portfolio. Additionally, the market anticipates a rise in precious metal prices, which will lead to a stable value appreciation of Edelcoin.

5. How is Edelcoin regulated?

Edelcoin is a Swiss company and has been accepted and reviewed as a payment stablecoin by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA). Swiss regulation is widely recognized as extremely secure and trustworthy worldwide.

6. Do you have plans to expand into the MENA and GCC regions, and how?

Absolutely! There is already a blueprint in multiple directions: We are working to integrate Edelcoin into the financial landscape of the MENA and GCC regions, including trading platforms, as well as invest in the economies of the entire MENA and GCC regions.

7. Where and when will Edelcoins be traded?

At launch, we already have six exchanges: XT.com, Probit, BitForex, Blocktrade, LBank, and MEXC. Edelcoin is tradable on XT from August 14.

8. How can Edelcoin be used as a form of payment, given that precious metal prices are not stable?

Precious metals, backing up each EDLC are industrial metals and looking into historical perspective, these metals show an upward trend. More information on backing metals are here: https://edelcoin.com/transparency/

Edelcoin is accepted as a digital currency and can be spent in businesses that accept cryptocurrencies, much like Bitcoin. Additionally, we are working on installing ATM machines in several countries, enabling easy deposit and withdrawal of fiat currencies for enhanced flexibility.

9. Can users exchange their coins for the actual precious metals they are linked to?

Of couse! On the Edelcoin website, there is a “Boutique” section  where anyone can exchange their Edelcoins for silver and gold coins – to my knowledge, no one else offers this!

10. How do you envision the future of stablecoins and crypto payments, and how can businesses, governments, and organizations benefit from them?

In my view, there will be a future return to currencies backed by precious metals. A stable currency spells success and security for any business engaged in buying and selling. Such certainty can only be provided by a currency that is 100% backed. Pension funds and trading companies dealing with resources like oil, gas, and other commodities will find a solution and use the stability of Edelcoin.

11. Any other news or updates that Edelcoin would like to share?

In the next three months, we will be installing the first ATMs in Europe and Asia. Contracts with currency exchanges have already been finalized. We are open to further partnership inquiries. Please reach us  at partner@edelcoin.com

UAE Venture Capital firm raises $50 million to invest in Blockchain Web3 startups

UAE Venture Capital firm raises $50 million to invest in Blockchain Web3 startups

UAE based Illuminati Capital has raised $50 million to invest in early-stage blockchain startups including game companies.

According to the news, the Dubai based firm and its partners have individually invested in blockchain startups worth over $1 billion.

Illuminati Capital aims to offer more than just financial support. The venture capital firm is dedicated to building the global Web3 ecosystem and driving transformative shifts in decentralized technologies.

The team behind Illuminati Capital has collectively deployed $30 million, resulting in exits worth $150 million.

Vickaash Agrawal partner at Illiminati Capital stated in an article in Venture Beats, “We are witnessing a remarkable growth trajectory in Web3 venture investing.  With a track record of 120-plus successful blockchain investments in my investment portfolio, I will bring my expertise in data, infrastructure, regulation and mining.”

Illuminati Capital’s investment focus spans multiple verticals, including decentralized finance (DeFi), blockchain gaming, artificial intelligence, NFT infrastructure, and real-world assets (RWA). By strategically investing in pioneering sectors, Illuminati Capital aims to play a pivotal role in shaping the decentralized economy of the future.

“The possibilities of decentralized technology are endless,” said Dhaval Parikh, a partner at Illuminati Capital and blockchain investor with five-plus years of experience and a portfolio of leading Web3 high-end projects, in a statement. “With a background in VC, I will focus on due diligence, risk assessment, portfolio management, and deal flow while analyzing industry trends and key ecosystem insights.”

Blockchain UAE Trade Connect hires International expansion Officer for GCC and MENA region

Blockchain UAE Trade Connect hires International expansion Officer for GCC and MENA region

In a recent LinkedIn post, Zul Javaid, CEO of UAE Trade Connect, the UAE’s first trade finance platform to combat fraud, announced that they had hired Wissam Massud to lead their international expansion.

As per the post, Massud will define market-entry strategies as UAE Trade Connect widens its horizons to GCC, other Middle East, Africa countries.

In the post, Javaid states, “We know that UTC’s unique #blockchain technology addresses a real-life pain for banks and tradefinance lending everywhere, so we fully expect to be knocking on lots of countries’ doors in the coming year.”

Prior to this announcement, In May 2023 Zul Javaid coming back fro a recent participation at Global Trade Review conference in KSA had noted that UAE Trade  Connect was interested in offering its solutions to the Saudi Arabian banking sector.

As per Javaid, “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a robust banking market, and we are very keen to bring our unique blockchain and AI based engine into the country to help banks de risk their trade finance lending.”

UAE Trade Connect currently has 11 UAE banks among its members and has surpassed $27 million in transactions identifying interbank duplicate financing and preventing fraud attempts.

Oman Easy Coins becomes first registered VASP entity with Capital Markets Authority

Oman Easy Coins becomes first registered VASP entity with Capital Markets Authority

While the Oman Capital Markets Authority awaits feedback for its virtual assets framework consultation paper, it has approved registry of Oman’s Easy Coins, a non custodial crypto provider, as the first VASP in the country.

Easy Coins has been operating in Oman for over two years. In December 2022 Easy Coins launched its trial of Tether USDT on the Tron Blockchain. Accordingly Easy Coin users in Oman could purchase TRC20 USDT.

Prior to that The Oman Water and Waste Water Services Company ( OWWSC), member of Nama Group, trialed its stablecoin linked to the Oman Riyal. The company signed an MOU with Oman based Digital Digits, the creators of Easy coins and Connected Chains to trial “ Hasalah” a stablecoin Wallet.

Easy Coins was launched in Oman in June 2021, as a non custodial crypto Brokerage platform, The platform is powered by Quantoz Blockchain Technology for financial services, and running on Nexus from connectedChains and supported by ThawaniPay.

Given that Easy Coins was already self regulating and adhering to CMA’s FATF KYC nad AML requirements, they were considered the first to be registered as a VASP seeking full license in Oman.

Dr. Khalid M.W. Tahhan, Co-Founder, Easy Coins ME stated, “We at Easy Coins believe that innovation from society will always be ahead of any regulator in any industry and nation. Thats why for vision 2040’s primary innovation pillar to be properly realized, it is essential that innovation from society should not be slowed down or hindered till regulators catch up, but rather it is essential for innovators to innovate and regulators to catch up with them rapidly. We commend the capital markets for their rapid response and acclimatization towards innovations in virtual assets and believe with such adaptable regulators, this industry will have a healthy place in Oman to flourish.”

Speaking to LaraontheBlock Tahhan explained, ” Registration is stage one which means we were cleared for KYC, AML, CDD requirements, full licensing is the next stage and will happen next year. Today we are allowed to operate because our risk measures are covered.” 

HH Sayyid Azzan Bin Qais Al Said Co-Founder of Easy Coins added “ Easy Coins has been in operations for two years and has been self regulating its operations since its launch. Hence when CMA initiated its registration process for Virtual Asset Service Providers, we were able to instantly meet CMA’s and FATF’s KYC/AML requirements.“

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank utilizes Microsoft Azure for Blockchain, AI and Data warehouse

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank utilizes Microsoft Azure for Blockchain, AI and Data warehouse

The UAE Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, recently announced its migration of high percentage of its application and workloads to the Azure Cloud utilising various cloud computing services such as Blockchain, AI, and Data warehouse.

ADIB has selected Cloud4C to work with them on this transformation project. Cloud4C is an Azure expert specialised in advanced cloud-managed services. They were chosen because of their broad and deep portfolio of cloud services, overall commitment to security excellence, and strong financial services experience.

Commenting on the migration to the Cloud, Ashley Veasey, Group Chief Information Officer at ADIB, said: “ADIB has been at the forefront of digital transformation and continues to invest in re-architecting its technology to be more innovative and responsive to customer needs. We migrated to the cloud in recognition of the need to create an environment that is optimised for rapid changes and that will help in rolling out our digitisation strategy to better cater to the constantly evolving needs of customers. With this migration, ADIB is now able to deliver new applications rapidly, while adhering to the highest standards of security.”

Excited about the partnership and successful migration, Rakesh Reddy, Regional Director, Cloud4C MEA, said: “ADIB’s commitment to migrate to Azure cloud is a reflection of their strategy to provide the best customer experience and on being a leader in innovation. We are excited that ADIB has worked with us and benefited from our expertise to support them in this project. This is the largest single-phase migration in the region involving hundreds of core applications and thousands of servers. Post a thorough assessment of the existing landscape, a tailored Azure cloud migration blueprint was chalked out by Cloud4C’s Azure team. Once completed, the implementation was performed fail-proof, with dedicated Azure advanced networking, server migration, application migration, DR setup, and support services. Today, ADIB banks on data-driven business decisions leveraging tools and consulting from experienced cloud and domain experts.”

In the past ADIB Bank has been a strong proponent for technology and Blockchain. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) became the 10th bank to join Blockchain trade finance platform UAE Trade Connect (UTC), developed by e& enterprise, formerly Etisalat Digital. 

The doubtful nature of Islamic Coin and the Haqq Blockchain network and Association

The doubtful nature of Islamic Coin and the Haqq Blockchain network and Association

For almost a year now, as a blockchain and crypto blogger I have been reading about the Haqq Blockchain network through their press releases, and this has raised doubts about the entity and its activities. 

First doubt came with  the announcement of the large investment they claim to have raised. First it was $200 million dollars raised in August 2022 in a private sale where none of the HNWI investors were mentioned. Then almost a year later in July 2023, Haqq Blockchain/Islamic Coin announced another $200 million investment, this time stating it was from ABO Digital, a subsidiary of multi-family office Alpha Blue Ocean Group.

Looking closer at this announcement of the $200 million from ABO Digital, the information states, “The latest partnership will entail introducing Islamic Coin to the ABO network of investors and helping the team structure innovative Shariah-compliant financial products that could be used in the digital asset space to raise alternative funding. The deal provides access to a maximum of $200 million as and when required and ensures Islamic Coin has a long and stable runway.”

So the investment is available as and when required and is part of a Shariah compliant financial products offering. In the announcement, ABO Digital CEO Amine Naedjai commented, “ABO Digital is thrilled to collaborate with Islamic Coin as an alternative finance provider. This ambitious project, supported by a stellar team, is revolutionizing the Shariah-compliant market by introducing digitization. We are honored to have been selected as a partner.”

So it is an investment or a partnership to launch a product?

But what is HAQQ Blockchain? It is an EVM-equivalent chain, based on Cosmos SDK. The creators state that its Islamic Coin is a Shariah-compliant, ethics-first Islamic Coin.  They also state that the Haqq Blockchain is supervised by the HAQQ Association a Swiss based (non-profit) association funded via donations.

As for their partnership announcements they also have a lot of grandeur words and PR but nothing really practical on the ground. In April 2023, they published a press release announcing  what they called a “Significant Partnership for the Global Islamic Market” with London based DDCAP Group. In a closer look it is not a partnership yet, or even an alliance. It is an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) to explore the “potential opportunities of working together”. Till now August 2023 nothing further on this front has been announced.

Then on August 10th 2023, Islamic Coin Haqq Blockchain announced what they call four significant MOUs with what they call are leading private and government affiliated services in the UAE in immigration, medical wellness and travel industries.

Looking closer at these 4 entities the significance of the MOUs fade. The first entity is MB, Speciality Medical Center, with their website showcasing exactly three doctors. As for 24 Seven Government transactions Center for immigration services, the company doesn’t even have a website and its twitter page has 74 followers!

Still two to go, the IV Wellness Lounge Clinic, is a boutique beauty clinic, and finally Middle East Holiday no information could be found on it!

So in Haqq Blockchain latest press release on these four MOUs where none of the partners are even quoted, the press release states, “MBM Specialty Medical Center, 24 Seven Government Transactions Center, IV Wellness Lounge Clinic and Middle East Holiday, in total serving millions of customers all over the world every year, have joined the Islamic Coin – Haqq partnership network.”

First look at the wording, these 4 entities serve millions of customers all over the world!!! Second they have joined Islamic Coin! It is an MOU when did MOUs become partnerships?

As for the quote in the release, “I am incredibly pleased and honored to be working together with our four incredible new partners. Today, we have brought Islamic Coin to the industries that form the core of everyone’s consumption patterns – from travel to medical care – and we look forward to continuing on the path to adoption, in the Muslim world and beyond,” commented Islamic Coin founder Mohammed AlKaff Al Hashmi.

But let us not stop just there, on reading the white paper, there are no financials, no segmentation of tokens, and no roadmap information.

Finally on the Haqq Network website it showcases 15 partners in its ecosystem of those only five are live! Yet Haqq network states on its website that it has 520,060 mainnet accounts with 10,000 transactions in last 24 hours.

Haqq Blockchain has stated that it will launch its Islamic Coin (ISLM) on the 1st of September 2023 on centralized and decentralized exchanges.

So be ready….. or Not!

Gayo Aviation accepts crypto payments using UAE based HAYVN Pay

Gayo Aviation accepts crypto payments using UAE based HAYVN Pay

Swedish and UAE based Gayo aviation, a luxury travel company that offers aircraft management, consulting services, aircraft purchase and sales and flight deck services is now offering crypto payments utilizing UAE HAYVN Pay.

HAYVN Pay is a part of HAYVN, a digital asset-focused financial institution regulated in Australia (AUSTRAC), Lithuania (FNTT), Abu Dhabi (ADGM), the Cayman Islands (CIMA) and the British Virgin Islands (BVI). HAYVN Pay aims to drive cryptocurrency payment adoption by providing accessible, trusted crypto payment solutions.

Christopher Flinos, Chief Executive Officer at HAYVN said: “The interest in paying in cryptocurrency extends across all major asset industries including gold, jewellery, watches, exotic cars, boats, real estate, and handbags. HAYVN Pay aims to bring cryptocurrency payment solutions to 75% of the world’s merchants by 2024. Cryptocurrency accounts for 20% of total luxury sales in 2023. I welcome Gayo Aviation to the HAYVN Pay ecosystem and look forward to providing its customers with a safe, seamless cryptocurrency payment option.”

Ravi Dueland, Business Development Director at Gayo Aviation said: “We are proud to enable our customers with another payment method through HAYVN Pay and have already performed our first flight using HAYVN Pay. In today’s evolving new economy it’s important to provide your customers with multiple options to enable payments. We have noticed an increase in the demand for payments using digital assets and are delighted to be able to offer this to our clients through this partnership. We look forward to continuing enhancing our customers’ experiences through innovation.”