Ruya, UAE’s first digital Islamic Bank offers crypto trading services

Ruya, UAE’s first digital Islamic Bank offers crypto trading services

UAE based ruya (رويا), the country’s first digital-first Islamic bank has partnered with UAE Fuze a digital asset infrastructure provider to offer its customers crypto services including crypto buying and selling. Users will be able to purchase cryptos such as Bitcoin on Ruya’s mobile application.

As per the announcement this service is part of ruya’s broader investment offering, designed to promote ethical Islamic wealth building and long-term financial growth. Both Fuze and Ruya note that the service is secure, user friendly and aligned with ethical Islamic financial principles.

“At ruya, we are committed to transforming the financial landscape in the UAE by offering forward-thinking services while staying true to our mission of ethical Islamic banking. By integrating virtual assets into our investment platform, we aim to empower our customers to participate in the digital economy in a sustainable and responsible way. We can also assure our customers that the virtual assets we are offering on our ruya investment platform are Shari’ah-compliant, providing much-needed certainty,” said Christoph Koster, CEO of ruya.

Mohammed Ali Yusuf (Mo Ali Yusuf), Co-Founder and CEO of Fuze, shared: “Partnering with ruya is a big step towards making virtual assets a seamless part of everyday banking. Together, we’re combining Fuze’s cutting-edge infrastructure with ruya’s commitment to ethical Islamic banking. We are excited to be at the forefront of providing simple, secure, and ethical digital asset solutions for the future.”

Unlike platforms that encourage speculative trading, ruya’s virtual assets service is part of a carefully curated investment framework, fostering long-term wealth building.

Christoph Koster added, “By partnering with Fuze, we’ve ensured that our customers will benefit from a robust and trusted platform to access the opportunities in the virtual asset space. This service reflects our promise to innovate while maintaining the highest standards of ethical Islamic banking.”

Ruya is not the first bank to offer crypto buy and sell services. A month ago Liv Digital Bank part of Emirates NBD also opened up crypto trading, buying and custody service for clients.

Kuwait Ministry of Interior to target illegal crypto mining

Kuwait Ministry of Interior to target illegal crypto mining

The Kuwait Ministry of Interior (MoI) has issued a statement saying that crypto mining in the country is illegal and unlicensed. Officials from Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy noted that there are over 1,000 crypto mining sites in the country.

In a press statement published on X, the General Department of Security Relations and Media, at the ministry clarified that cryptocurrency mining violates several key laws, including Law No. (56) of 1996 related to the Industry Law, Law No. (31) of 1970 amending certain provisions of the Penal Code No. (16) of 1960, Law No. (37) of 2014 establishing the Communications and Information Technology Regulatory Authority (CITRA), and Law No. (33) of 2016 concerning the Kuwait Municipality.

The Ministry noted that crypto mining depletes electricity power and increases the load on the power networks which can result in power outages a threat to public safety.

This warning follows joint efforts between the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy, the Communications and Information Technology Authority, the Public Authority for Industry, and Kuwait Municipality. These efforts are part of a coordinated national initiative to address these illegal practices and reduce their adverse effects on the country’s electrical infrastructure.

The Ministry of Interior urged violators to promptly rectify their activities, emphasizing that failure to comply will result in necessary legal actions. Violators will be referred to the appropriate investigative authorities for further action in accordance with applicable laws.

Kuwait also considers crypto trading as illegal.

However Kuwait as a country is considered as one of the cheapest countries to carry out crypto mining because of its subsidized electricity cost. estimates have previously dubbed Kuwait the most affordable location to mine bitcoin (BTC) worldwide. One roundup suggested the cost of mining in Kuwait was just $1,400 per BTC in 2022 compared to more than $18,000 in Texas (bitcoin was worth more than $40,000 at the time).

Fuze subsidiary Niobe licensed for digital asset payments in UAE

Fuze subsidiary Niobe licensed for digital asset payments in UAE

Fuze, a digital asset Blockchain enabled financial infrastructure providers, subsidiary Niobe Payment Services has been licensed to offer digital assets payments by the Central Bank of the UAE. The company now holds a Retail Payment Services and Card Schemes (RPSCS) license.

Fuze Group, through its subsidiary Niobe Payment Services LLC SPC, is now both a fully licensed operator for digital assets infrastructure and, through its payments infrastructure division, a regulated payment services provider for the region.

As per the press release, the new license will enable businesses to benefit from faster, more secure payment options, reduced transaction times and end-to-end compliance.

Mohammed Ali Yusuf (Mo Ali Yusuf), CEO and Co-Founder of Fuze said, “This license is the launchpad for the next generation of payments. It marks a key step in our mission to provide digital and AI-enabled infrastructure that will drive the future of finance and transform payments. We are privileged to be granted this license from the Central Bank and look forward to providing cutting-edge, compliant payment infrastructure and novel solutions – like virtual IBANs – for a range of businesses.”

Fuze’s technology will enhance digital payments, supporting the UAE Digital Economy Strategy, which aims to double the contribution of the digital economy to the UAE’s GDP to 19.4 per cent by 2032.

Through its strong regulatory foundation, Fuze is now launching a new payment platform that combines AI-driven technology, user-friendly design, and integrated compliance features, to simplify and support modern business needs.

With the license in place, Fuze will soon roll out a comprehensive, compliant suite of payment products with features that include digital payments and settlements through real-time infrastructure, AI-enhanced compliance and fraud detection engine, virtual IBANs to make it easier to collect payments and manage funds, and merchant tools to help UAE-based businesses to manage payments and grow

Morocco’s Bank Al Maghrib Director says crypto regulation now at Ministry of Economy to oversee adoption process

Morocco’s Bank Al Maghrib Director says crypto regulation now at Ministry of Economy to oversee adoption process

At Gitex Africa 2025, the General Director of Bank Al Maghrib, Mr. Abderrahim Bouazza noted that the crypto draft law is now at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, who will then submit it to a technical committee to oversee its adoption process.

In his speech he emphasized that the technology underlying crypto assets could be utilized to develop fintech services. Bank Al Magrib had announced in 2022 that it was close to finalizing its crypto regulatory framework. Then on December 20th 2024, the Central Bank of Morocco represented by its governor Abdellatif Jouahri announced that the draft crypto bill to regulate the use of cryptocurrencies was ready. Jouahri stressed that the full draft is ready to put in place a proper regulatory framework.

Boazza was discussing Morocco’s plans to create an acquisition support fund for merchants to strengthen payment infrastructure. Bank Al Maghrib. He had noted, “Among the short-term actions to strengthen the payment infrastructure, BAM intends to set up an acquisition support fund to facilitate the acceptance of electronic payments by merchants.”

Noting that digital payment adoption among merchants remains low, he stated that the Central Bank aims to implement incentive measures to encourage their adoption of the electronic payment system.

“The Central Bank is working on implementing more attractive pricing for electronic payments by lowering interchange fees, including those for bank cards, while also considering making cash usage more restrictive in the medium term. These actions will be carried out as part of a broader strategy for the digitalization of payments and fintech development, stemming from a rigorous and thorough diagnostic,” he continued.

He also discussed the introduction of CBDC digital currency or the e-dirham which could address certain challenges in the payment sector especially when it comes to the utilization of cash, but noting that this would require alot of time.

He noted, “The success of this project would depend on how the public perceives the digital currency. It would need to be as credible and accessible as physical cash.”

Chainalysis shared an excerpt from its upcoming 2024 Geography of Cryptocurrency report covering the MENA region and noting that MENA is the seventh largest crypto market globally in 2024 with the biggest two crypto countries being Turkey and Morocco.

Mantra Blockchain shares preliminary report awaiting crypto exchanges collaboration

Mantra Blockchain shares preliminary report awaiting crypto exchanges collaboration

UAE regulated Mantra Blockchain platform for the tokenization of real world assets has published a preliminary report on the OM Token price fall.

As per the post On 13 April at approximately 18:28 UTC, the OM token experienced significant and unexpected downward price action, resulting in a 92% decline over a period of approximately one hour. This unusual market activity has raised questions within our community, and we acknowledge the concerns expressed by our token holders during this period of market volatility.

The post notes that the Mantra team have been conducting a thorough investigation to find our the key factors contributing to the rapid price movement and present verifiable data confirming the current OM Token circulating supply.

Mantra states, ” Our objective is to deliver a fact-based assessment that addresses community questions and outlines measures to strengthen market resilience. While our investigation remains ongoing, we are committed to sharing verified information in a timely and transparent manner. We appreciate the community’s patience as we compile a comprehensive understanding of this market event.”

No sales of OM token were made by the MANTRA team or advisors as those remain locked, however ERC-20 OM tokens are in public circulation and outside of Mantra’s control.

  1. Legacy ERC-20 OM Tokens (Fully Circulating)
    The original OM token (ERC-20) was launched in August 2020 with a fixed total supply of 888.88 million OM. As of 15 April, 2025, 99.995% of these tokens are in public circulation, held by more than 123,000 wallets, meaning they are fully liquid and tradable on the open market. Key allocations from the original OM ERC-20 tokens — including public/private sales, team/advisors, grants, reserves, referrals, and staking rewards—have all been fully distributed. This means market activity for these tokens is driven by holders and external trading dynamics. Further details on the ERC-20 OM buckets and balances can be found in Appendix A.
  2. MANTRA Chain Mainnet OM Tokens (Limited Circulation)
    In October 2024, the launch of MANTRA Chain introduced an additional 888.88 million OM coins minted natively on the new blockchain, alongside an onchain inflation mechanism. Currently, 77.5 million OM of these MANTRA Chain coins are in circulation. There are currently over 200,000 mainnet OM wallets. Further details on the Mainnet OM buckets and balances can be found in Appendix B.

  5. The total OM supply stands at 1.81 billion tokens, split evenly between legacy ERC-20 and new Mainnet OM. Of this:
  • 53% (969.61 million OM) is currently circulating. Nearly all circulating supply (92%) comes from the fully liquid ERC-20 tokens, with just 8% originating from Mainnet OM. As per Mantra the incident almost exclusively involved ERC-20 OM, as ERC-20 OM represents virtually the entire liquid market.

    MANTRA acknowledges that significant amounts of OM tokens were moved onto exchanges for use as collateral. Based on MANTRA’s review of independent observations (here and here) of the incident, it is evident that there were forced OM position closures during a period characterized by reduced market activity (around 02:00 am Monday HKT). These liquidations created excessive selling pressure on the OM token market.

    As per the analysis of Mantra, the forces liquidations according to Mantra initiated a sequential market reaction which pushed the price downward which triggered automated liquidation events across exchanges for leverage positions using OM as collateral. A divergence on OM Token spot price between OKX and Binance was noted in hours commending around 18:00 UTC. As such Mantra noted that significant OM Traders were liquidated by centralized exchanges, and that they are awaiting further information from crypto exchange partners for clarification.

    As for the future Mantra plans to release details of its OM Token support plan with OM Token buyback and supply burn program. The CEO and Founder John Patrick Mullin, has committed to burn his team allocation. Mantra calls on centralized exchanges to collaborate and provide clarity on trading activities while Mantra releases a dashboard with live balances of tokenomics buckets for additional market transparency.

    Mantra Chain CEO to give full story on OM Token loss

    Mantra Chain CEO to give full story on OM Token loss

    The CEO and Founder of UAE regulated Mantra Chain John Patrick Mullin announced on LinkedIn ( 23 hours ago) that the event regarding the $OM Token severe losses at the beginning of this week, were a result of a massive forced liquidation of a very large OM holder’s position on a crypto exchange.

    Since the incident the OM token has lost $5 billion in value, and stands at a market cap of $741 million.

    He noted however that regardless of your scale of loss, all investors and community members are in his and his teams thoughts. He as such along with the leadership team are exploring buy back programs and a supply burn to restore investor confidence.

    He added that within the next 24 hours, he will be making a public factual post mortem that will share all the details of what transpired in the early hours of Monday morning (APAC). He states, ” This analysis will be as accurate and factual as we can possibly make it. It will not contain opinions or spin. We believe the truth is on our side, and it is in everyone’s interest to make it known and shared as widely as possible. It’ll be shared on my account, along with our official channels.”

    Later on in an X post he explained further with regards to burning of tokens. He stated, “To be 100% clear, I am stating that I am burning MY team tokens, and we will create a comprehensive burn program for other parts of the OM supply.”

    Investors in Mantra, such as Shorooq and Laser Digital denied claims of token sale.

    Kratos decentralized gamer network launches regional headquarters in Bahrain

    Kratos decentralized gamer network launches regional headquarters in Bahrain

    Kratos Gamer Network (KGeN), a global Blockchain and AI decentralized gamer network, has launched its Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regional headquarters (HQ) in Bahrain. With over 21 million global gamers, KGeN begins on-ground operations in the MENA region to cater to the growing gaming market, which continues to experience unprecedented growth.

    KGeN MENA headquarters introduces the universal gamer reputation framework, enabling gamers in the region to claim their legacy through the globally accepted “Proof of Gamer” system and to join the KGeN gamer network. KGeN’s Bahrain HQ is set to serve as a bridge between gaming communities in MENA and global game publishers seeking to engage with the passion of the gaming community in the region.

    KGeN’s MENA headquarters in Bahrain also aims to drive innovation and growth in the rapidly evolving gaming and gamification ecosystem in the region via its blockchain-based user identity, reputation and loyalty framework to consumer-facing regional publishers who are looking at engaging their consumers via cutting-edge gamified and immersive offerings.

    Manish Agarwal, Co-Founder of KGeN, highlighted that Bahrain’s progressive digital infrastructure and supportive business environment make it an ideal location for KGeN’s regional expansion. He emphasised that KGeN are excited to contribute to the region’s thriving gaming industry by providing top-tier technology solutions, partnerships, and expertise.

    KGeN’s expansion aligns with its vision to empower consumer enterprises through AI-driven and blockchain-enabled gamification offerings. By leveraging Bahrain’s advanced ICT sector, KGeN aims to tap into emerging opportunities and collaborate with local and international consumer-facing entities.

    Ali Al Mudaifa, Chief of Business Development at the Bahrain Economic Development Board (Bahrain EDB), emphasised that the strategic decision to establish their regional headquarters in Bahrain is a strong testament to the Kingdom’s dynamic and rapidly evolving tech ecosystem, which continues to attract a diverse range of innovative companies. He noted that it also highlights Bahrain’s growing reputation as a destination of choice for companies seeking access to skilled digital talent and world-class infrastructure.

    Al Mudaifa noted that this milestone further strengthens Bahrain EDB’s commitment to supporting the development of the MENA region’s gaming industry, which is projected to reach a market value of USD 2.8 billion by 2026.

    Egypt makes up 30 percent of Weex crypto exchange MENA customers

    Egypt makes up 30 percent of Weex crypto exchange MENA customers

    WEEX crypto exchange, which has over 6 million customers globally, has announced that since it started serving the MENA region in January 2025, it has witnessed expansive growth especially in countries such as Egypt, Algeria, Iraq, Morocco and Saudi Arabia.

    Egypt has the highest number of users on WEEX crypto exchange making up 30 percent of their total MENA customer base, while Algeria follows at 17.3 percent, Iraq and Morocco making up 7-8 percent respectively.

    Surprisingly Saudi Arabia customers are just 6.2 percent of their total MENA customer base. All numbers are founded on data up to March 31st, 2025.

    While the number of customers still make up less than 1 percent of their total customer base, WEEX has showcased their commitment to the MENA region, launching their headquarters in the UAE as part of MENA expansion plans.

    The Dubai headquarter currently houses 600 employees and is expected to add 50 more hires over the next two years. 

    Andrew Weiner, Vice President of WEEX, stated, “We have witnessed impressive growth in our MENA customer base since we began offering our services in January 2025, this showcases the attraction that crypto has in the region especially in countries in North Africa, and the GCC. We will continue to expand our offering to support the MENA region while we seek to acquire regulatory licenses.”

    He adds, “We believe that everyone should be able to access the crypto market, and that crypto will play a strong role in the economies of the future especially in the Middle East. We hope to serve our clients with the utmost security, transparency, and offering.”

    WEEX already serves 6.2 million customers across 130+ countries. The crypto exchange has a daily trading volume of over $5 billion and supports more than 1,700 trading pairs. WEEX also boasts of a 1,000 BTC Protection Fund to protect users’ assets. In MENA the crypto exchange is offering Arabic language support through chatbot on their website, submitting a ticket on the website as well as through their telegram community.

    Fred, MENA Regional Manager, WEEX, noted, “As traditional markets wrestle with inflation and uncertainty, crypto stands as a beacon of innovation, offering a glimpse into a more resilient, decentralized financial future.”

    WEEX is currently participating and sponsoring TOKEN2049 Dubai event being held in Dubai UAE between April 30th and May 1st, 2025.

    The Chainalysis 2024 crypto geography report noted that the MENA region has become the seventh largest crypto market globally. The biggest two countries being Turkey and Morocco, while the fastest growing countries were Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Saudi Arabia remained the fastest-growing crypto economy in the MENA region in 2024, growing by 154% year-over-year.

    According to Statista, in Egypt, the number of users in the cryptocurrencies market is expected to reach 11.30m users by 2025. The user penetration rate is expected to be 9.72% in 2025.

    Australian NotCentralised to develop Blockchain certification attestation process for Qatar Government

    Australian NotCentralised to develop Blockchain certification attestation process for Qatar Government

    NotCentralised, an Australian based tech company that utilizes blockchain technology to offer solutions, has been selected by the Qatar Research, Development, and Innovation Council (QRDI), acting through Qatar Foundation, to lead and deliver a blockchain Optimization of Certification Attestation Process project.

    As per the announcement, this initiative aims to design a state-of-the-art attestation flow leveraging emerging technologies for the benefit of Qatar in partnership with RedBelly Network a premier blockchain team and Microsoft. The team will use blockchain technology in certification attestation for Qatar.

    As a specialist in emerging technologies, NotCentralised has deep expertise in Blockchain, Tokenization, and Generative AI. Our team has contributed to high-profile projects, including CBDC pilots for the Reserve Bank of Australia and Generative AI implementations for Sydney’s largest Primary Healthcare Network.

    NotCentralised won the the first challenge, titled “Certification Attestation Process – Optimization through Blockchain Technology,” which aimed to address various issues associated with the current manual certification verification process, such as workforce requirements, extended processing times, semi-automated university and government systems, high costs, intricate procedures, susceptibility to errors, degree forgery, and unauthorized verification.

    The initiative is supported by The Qatar Research, Development, and Innovation (QRDI) Council’s flagship program, Qatar Open Innovation (QOI), launched the Open Innovation Opportunities in partnership with the Ministry of Labour (MoL) in Qatar.

    This collaboration represents a significant milestone to enrich the technology sector and promote innovation. QRDI’s QOI program, known for its dedication to fostering innovation, introduces an Innovation Opportunity geared towards transforming the certification attestation process and document analysis for Qatar’s Ministry of Labour.

    There was also a second challenge, titled “Artificial Intelligence Driven Document Analysis for Qatar’s Ministry of Labour,” focuses on improving the efficiency of the Ministry of Labour’s operations. Manual document analysis has been time-consuming, labour-intensive, and error prone. By adopting AI-driven solutions, MoL aims to modernize its processes, reduce manual labour, and enhance efficiency, with a primary focus on contract analysis in the Arabic language.