eToro receives crypto investment broker in principle approval from Abu Dhabi’s ADGM

eToro receives crypto investment broker in principle approval from Abu Dhabi’s ADGM

eToro,  social investment networks  has received an In-Principle Approval to operate as a securities, derivatives and crypto broker in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

The Financial Services Permission from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), approval will enable eToro to establish a base from which to offer its services to customers across the region.

 

eToro allows users to view other investors’ portfolios and statistics, and interact with them to exchange ideas, discuss strategies, and benefit from shared knowledge. Users can hold traditional assets such as equities, currencies, ETFs, or commodities, alongside newer assets like cryptoassets. eToro also offers its users a choice of how to invest, as users can trade directly themselves, invest in a portfolio, or replicate the investment strategy of other investors on eToro’s platform at no extra cost, with a single click.

Arvind Ramamurthy, Chief of Markets at ADGM, said, “We are pleased that eToro has been awarded an In-Principle Approval by the ADGM and are excited to support them as they work towards establishing their foothold and presence in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE. ADGM is the largest regulated jurisdiction of virtual assets in the MENA region and eToro’s participation will add to its vibrant and trusted ecosystem of virtual asset trading venues, global exchanges and service providers.ADGM will continue to actively expand the business offerings and unlock new investment opportunities in the UAE, and enable investment platforms partners like eToro to support the growing financial needs of the investors and businesses across the region.”

 

Jason Hughes, Senior Executive Officer, UAE at eToro said, “This is an important milestone for eToro. The UAE has one of the most vibrant fintech landscapes in the Middle East, and Abu Dhabi one of the most sophisticated regulatory frameworks for digital assets. We’re incredibly proud to be joining this ecosystem. We look forward to working with the ADGM to obtain our full licence, and, in turn, expanding our services to investors in the UAE and further afield. We recently opened our office in Abu Dhabi to support this expansion and are looking forward to growing the team locally.”

George Naddaf, Regional Manager, UAE at eToro concluded, “eToro’s goal is to provide more people with access to financial markets. With the full licence in place, more investors in the Middle East will gain access not only to global markets, but also a wealth of educational content and the opportunity to share knowledge and discuss their strategy with our community of global investors. We are looking forward to working with our prospective clients and partners in the region.”

Select UAE Local bank customers can now trade with Binance in Dubai

Select UAE Local bank customers can now trade with Binance in Dubai

Binance, crypto exchange has received its Minimal Viable Product (MVP) license from Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA). Local bank clients approved by VARA will be able to utilize the Binance platform. Users will benefit from higher consumer protection levels because Binance is now a fully regulated platform in Dubai.

Binance is now able to open a client money account with a UAE local bank and provide services to qualified customers. Services include, virtual asset exchange services, conversion between virtual assets and fiat currencies, transfer of virtual assets, custody and management of virtual assets, virtual token offering and trading services and virtual assets payments and remittance services

His Excellency Helal Saeed Almarri, Chairman of VARA said, “We are pleased to have Binance licensed to operate within the VARA MVP Programme. The VARA regime aims to strike an effective balance between value creation and risk mitigation, enabling open market innovation while assuring protection for the economically vulnerable. The MVP Phase, is designed for select global players across the value chain, that are committed to responsible industry participation and VARA looks forward to Binance being an active contributor, reinforcing Dubai’s commitment towards creating a next-gen secure ecosystem for this future economy.”

Changpeng Zhao (CZ), founder and CEO of Binance, commented: “At Binance we welcome regulations that are globally consistent, enable responsible innovation, protect users, and give them choice. VARA’s unique operating model is setting a benchmark for the global industry, and this most recent registration is an acknowledgement of our compliance and safety processes in the new regulatory framework.  We strongly believe there is a significant opportunity to work with our industry peers to develop consistent implementation standards around the world as we have been doing in Dubai.”

Alexander Chehade, Binance Dubai General Manager, noted: “Our registration in Dubai is a reflection of the country’s progressive stance on blockchain technology and its willingness to embrace this sector through collaboration. We look forward to continued partnership as we build upon our team and operations in Dubai to roll out additional services including local banking capabilities and enhanced products.”

Saudi Car agent utilizes blockchain platform for trade transaction with China

Saudi Car agent utilizes blockchain platform for trade transaction with China

Saudi Arabian Taajeer Group, the exclusive agent for MG cars in the Kingdom has utilized the Blockchain enabled Contour platform in its importing of cars from China. HSBC, Chinese SAIC Motor, and KSA Taajeer group executed a successful blockchain enabled trade finance transaction on the Contour platform.

As per the news this is a regional first for the automotive sector and a first in KSA.

Contour is a digital trade finance network that is building a global standard for trade by bringing together the world’s banks, corporates and ecosystem partners, onto a common, digital, and trusted network.

The Contour platform enabled end-to-end digitisation of the credit documentation required for Taajeer to import a shipment of cars from SAIC in a process that is up to 10 times faster than using physical documents. 

Chaker Zeraiki, Head of Global Trade & Receivables Finance for HSBC UAE, said: “Our digitising at scale means making customers’ lives easier and, with Contour it means we’re cutting costs, reducing risk and speeding up trade. Bringing these benefits to the automotive sector and Saudi Arabia are a measure of our international connectivity and our global leadership in trade banking.”

Trade finance powers much of global trade and, according to HSBC, distributed ledger technology has the potential to reduce transaction times from between five and ten days to under 24 hours, therefore unlocking working capital and enabling more trade to be conducted between markets.

Carl Wegner, CEO of Contour said: “This transaction marks an important milestone in the Middle East’s automotive sector, proving that distributed ledger technology is successfully transforming the trade finance ecosystem. We are excited about the potential of wider adoption in this sector, as having a digital trade solution is no longer an option, but the new standard for the industry.”

The use of Contour’s platform also makes the transactions more secure as data shared on the network are indisputable and transparent, reducing the risk of fraud.

Tom Lee, Managing Director of MG Motor Middle East, owned by the SAIC Group, said: “It brings me great joy to continue to offer ‘best-in-class’ service through an integrated supply-chain programme that can make our operations even more seamless. With HSBC as our partner, we will proactively provide solutions to ensure our customers’ demands are met safely and on schedule. I believe that our bright future is filled with opportunities and our customers can rest assured they will be met with consistent high-quality supply from us, anytime and anywhere in the Middle East region.”

The transaction is also a first in Saudi Arabia where, according to David Leslie, General Manager of the Trade Finance Business at SABB, increased digitisation is aligned to the Vision 2030 initiative to make the Kingdom a regional trade hub. “Blockchain can significantly reduce friction and increase the pace of trade for companies trading with Saudi Arabian entities.”

KSA’s Saudi National day to be held in Decentraland metaverse

KSA’s Saudi National day to be held in Decentraland metaverse

KSA Bold Group, a creative advertising agency, has partnered with King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives ( Darah) to bring Saudi National day to the Decentraland metaverse.

For Saudi Arabia’s 92nd Saudi National Day Celebration, participants will experience Saudi Culture in a new digital realm, the metaverse. The virtual Saudi National Day celebration will begin on the 22nd of September until the 24th of September 2022.

For this pioneering initiative, The Bold Group collaborated with King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives (Darah) to make the user experience come to life. This strategic partnership will enable an authentic immersive experience as both Darah strive to make Saudi Arabia’s history and culture accessible to the world, and to educate future generations on the full breadth of the Kingdom’s great heritage.

 Abeer Alessa, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Bold Group said, “We are activating the metaverse in an impactful way by paying tribute to Saudi National Day. Fusing our past with our future, we are honouring the storied history of the Kingdom, preserving our heritage and displaying it with pride for people to engage with in the new digital realm.” Our focus has always been to bring value to our partners and community, and this unique experience paves the way for others to discover exciting new opportunities in the market. In line with the Kingdom’s transformative outlook for the Vision 2030, The Bold Group embraces the change and strives to be the pioneer of new and emerging technologies in the digital sphere.”

The Bold Group’s multi-faceted Saudi National Day experience in the metaverse will be held on the ‘Decentraland metaverse. It will feature multiple layers of Saudi culture in an open-air museum, with each level displaying various representations of the beauty of Saudi Arabia. The experience will also feature exclusively tailored Saudi national attire, created and inspired by the different regions of the Kingdom. These iconic pieces will be made available as wearable NFTs for event visitors. The Bold Group will also be providing the POAP (Proof of Attendance Protocol) as a limited edition collectible NFT for users to showcase with pride their participation in the world’s first Saudi National Day metaverse celebration.

Ziad AbuRjaily, Creative Technology Director in the Bold Experience Unit said, ” The idea to usher the Saudi National Day, a historically traditional celebration, into the new era of technology was inspired by the challenge of convening people across the Kingdom’s 13 different regions to celebrate Saudi Arabia in one virtual space.”

University of Sharjah to preserve UAE culture with Blockchain Metaverse system

University of Sharjah to preserve UAE culture with Blockchain Metaverse system

UAE University of Sharjah has launched a research project aimed to develop a blockchain metaverse system to preserve the UAE culture and heritage. Working with BSV Blockchain Association, the University of Sharjah plans to retain ownership of UAE culture in the form of digital assets, and then develop an NFT and physical marketplace where users can exchange physical originals as well as NFTs all in a metaverse environment.

Prof. Maamar Bettayeb, Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Studies at The University of Sharjah noted that this was a very pragmatic use case utilizing technologies such as Blockchain, metaverse and NFTs. He states, “The University is serving the community and UAE’s national economy by implementing the vision of the Emirate of Sharjah as well as the UAE in documenting and preserving our history and heritage in both tangible and intangible formats.”

 Mr. Jimmy Nguyen, Bitcoin Association for BSV Founding President, added “We are very excited and pleased with the partnership with a premier institution in the UAE such as the University of Sharjah to develop an innovative solution that utilizes the latest technologies to preserve the nation’s values and history in UAE and the region. Launching a new start-up will help in creating many jobs for the new technology graduates and create new economy for trading antiques, historic and modern artworks in a digital format and in virtual marketplace as NFTs”.

Dr. Mohamed Al Hemairy, the leading researcher at the University of Sharjah explained, “UAE has a very wealthy culture and human heritage, characterised by numerous physical inheritances. Yet new generations and expatriates don’t know much about it, that is why we researched how we could deploy Blockchain to preserve the intellectual property and ownership of the Emirati’s Families inherited treasures and to design a virtual art gallery for the Arabic and Islamic culture, heritage, antiques, historic and modern artworks in a state-of-the-art digital format. These would be digitized in the form that would retain its intellectual property through Non-Fungible Tokens [NFT].”

The heritage and culture of the UAE will be in a virtual art gallery in the Metaverse built on BSV Blockchain.  

Mr. Muhammad Anjum, the Head of the BSV Hub for MESA, commented “Developing relationships and supporting the academic institutions is a key goal of our regional BSV Hub and an impactful way that the blockchain technology can grow in the Middle East. The University of Sharjah has brought a very strong use case to utilize the powerful features of the BSV blockchain. The Dubai Metaverse Strategy is an innovative initiative and a key step towards making UAE the first country in the world in the field of adoption and use of the metaverse. We are confident that we will see numerous engagements between BSV Ecosystem, and the University of Sharjah soon.”

Maxya Proof of Useful Work Blockchain platform launches from Qatar

Maxya Proof of Useful Work Blockchain platform launches from Qatar

Two professors at Qatar university came together to build a blockchain network from scratch that would not only be utilized as a ledger but also as a super computer. They named it Maxya given that its consensus mechanism creates added value by solving optimization problems for business.

Lebanese-Canadian national Mazen El Masri, Co-Founder and CEO and  Syrian-French national Karim Yafi, CO-Founder and CTO, of Genesis Technologies, the tech company which developed Maxya, both Associate Professors at Qatar University started their project three years ago with a $2.6 million fund for an applied research program from Qatar National Research Fund, today they have launched MaxYa test net and are testing it with Qatar’s local sectors.

The duo developed their consensus mechanism which they called “Proof of Useful Work”.  The Proof-of-Useful-Work (PoUW)” is an alternative mechanism for transaction validation that repurposes the squandered computing resources to beneficial use. Their main premise was to replace the mathematical puzzle, which constitutes a fundamental part of the (PoW) Proof-of-Work mechanism, with NP-hard optimization problems whose solutions benefit the participants of the blockchain.

The PoUW prototype received interest from investors and customers which led Qatar University to register its Qatar University Holding Company (QU Holding) as a commercial umbrella for supporting the spinoffs of QU faculty. Genesis Technologies is their first spin off.  Qatar University currently owns 10 percent of Genesis Technologies.

Al Yafi explained to Laraontheblock the nature of their PoUW platform, “We wanted to develop a blockchain where the computation power necessary to maintain the validation of Blockchain to solve useful problems would give the blockchain a meaning beyond just hash values. Instead of spending a huge amount of energy and computation power to create a block, which once created is useless, we want to use the computation power for something useful, where miner who finds the solution, i.e. the block, gets rewarded.”

Maxya blockchain platform, which can be a permission or permissionless based blockchain, solves very difficult mathematical optimization problems. Examples can include portfolio optimization, scheduling, supply chain management routing, optimizing port operations, genetic sequencing and precision medicine and many more s. As Al Yafi explains, “The problem is given to the miners that then compete fairly amongst each other to solve it, it includes trial and error, and there is a randomness which keeps the network fair. The First miner to come up with a useful solution is rewarded. The Solution becomes part of the block. It is very secure because in order to hack the blockchain they have to solve all the problems that will happen after the block is hashed.” The first use case for Maxya PoUW was a useful output for a maritime transportation problem.

An interesting feature of Maxya blockchain is that anyone with a regular laptop can participate as a node. So whether you have a supercomputer or a laptop both can equally compete. El Masri states, “For the first time it is not the one with the better hardware that has a better chance of mining a block, but it is more democratic, everyone has a chance. This method reduces energy consumption which is good. But MaxYa becomes carbon negative when its consensus mechanism solves optimization problems in industries like supply chains and logistics. We proved that MaxYa can minimize the movement of cargo ships and at the same time reduce shipping cost and time on shippers. This is when MaxYa can become carbon negative. We are carbon negative because not only do we use minimum energy we also offer a useful solution which offsets the energy we do use. If launched with sufficient optimization problems to solve, MaxYa can use less energy than Polygon.”

Currently, Maxya Blockchain can carry out around 300 transactions within 8 seconds. While the block is heavy because it contains the solution being worked on, the team is compressing the data to make it lighter. Transactions happen on-chain, while data files are embedded in Maxya’s off-chain distributed cloud system.

Maxya’s prototype is in test net phase using a logistics problem. Yafi tells LaraontheBlock, “We are planning to utilize Maxya for logistics optimization with partners in Qatar. We also plan to help optimize stowing on ports. At the same time we are in conversations with entities in the USA to optimize sequencing for precision drugs and in Canada to launch MaxYa globally. Maxya can solve a range of problems. This means the value of Maxya as a blockchain is not just in managing transactions, but providing valuable solutions. It is a ledger and a decentralized computer.”

The founders envision that Maxya will be the blockchain that can fully support Web3 environments, given that miners are incentivized and the more the incentives the more sustainable the blockchain. Eventually both founders believe that at some point Maxya will move to become a public blockchain, with an open source code and Genesis Technologies will continue to build solutions on top of Maxya.

Al Yafi states, “ At the moment Maxya’s source code is closed as we register a couple of IPs and patents, but in the future if we want it to grow, we will have to make it public, Genesis technology will continue to be a part of the community, and we envision both private and public versions of Maxya.”

In terms of the recent Qatar Blockchain Blueprint, Yafi emphasizes, “We are at the center of this initiative and have been for the past five years, we have partners and strong cooperation from Qatar Financial center and various Ministries.”

Henk Jan Hoogendoorn, Chief Financial Sector Officer at Qatar Financial Centre Authority stated on LinkedIn, ” We are very proud of Qatar’s Blockchain development called Maxya, developed by Genesis Technologies and Qatar University and their team. Qatar Financial Centre ( QFC) and Qatar Fintech Hub are supporting them to commercialize Maxya to government and financial institutions.” 

UAE Metaverse solutions provider MetaEssence launches its G2B2C solution

UAE Metaverse solutions provider MetaEssence launches its G2B2C solution

UAE based MetaEssence launches the world’s first specialized G2B2C (Government to Business to Consumer) utility-based Web3.0 and Metaverse solutions provider.  

MetaEssence focuses on Web3.0 & Metaverse enablement through three main business domains: digital health, digital economy, and sustainability. Introducing innovative solutions to accelerate the government agencies and organizations’ digital transformation, and contributing to the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai to cement the UAE’s position as a global capital for the digital economy. 

Fatma ElSafty, Founder and CEO of MetaEssence, states,” Our vision is to enable simplified, secure, and reliable access to a wide range of Web3.0 & Metaverse solutions where our customers find synergies between their services and securely execute transactions with a business value add. At MetaEssence We emphasize our products value and end results. All our products are blockchain agnostic and we are very keen on building long-term partnerships through a well-established transaction-based model.” 

MetaEssence’s solutions for Digital health and specifically medical tourism will introduce a better patient experience using smart contracts, where patients will have secure access to quality healthcare providers anywhere in the world. Via Metaverse and mixed reality; patients can simulate their experience while the advantageous environment for smart contracts between patients, providers, and payers in the overall system will eliminate many touch points through a more simplified, secure, and patient-centric solution. Thanks to blockchain, Web3.0, and Metaverse technologies to make this possible.

 MetaEssence is planning to launch this year “MetaEssence Heroes Program” to leverage MetaEssence Superheroes group of Worldwide experts in Web3, NFTs, Crypto Risks, regulation, Data Security, blockchain, Mixed reality, and Metaverse to train the new heroes on the “why” and “how” to use these technologies in their organizations.

Central Bank of Egypt to fine crypto violators $516,000

Central Bank of Egypt to fine crypto violators $516,000

The central bank of Egypt has once again reiterated its warning against dealing in any types of cryptocurrencies, saying that crypto is risky, highly volatile, and is used in financial crimes and e-piracy.

In the Egypt independent article, the Central Bank of Egypt will fine anyone who violates the Law No 194 of 2020 which prohibits issuing, trading, promoting cryptocurrencies, operating crypto exchanges or any other related activities. The Central Bank will fine violators up to $516,000 ( 10 million LE) or face imprisonment.

The CBE statement reads, “Whoever violates this shall be imprisoned, and fined no less than one million pounds and no more than LE10 million ($516,340), or one of these two penalties.”

The Egyptian central bank issued a similar warning about cryptocurrencies in January 2018, specifically naming Bitcoin. At that time the Central Bank had noted, “Cryptocurrencies are not backed by any tangible assets and are not supervised by any regulators worldwide, and consequently, they lack the official governmental guarantee and support enjoyed by the other official currencies issued by central banks.”

Yet Egypt has one of the highest crypto usages across Africa and Middle East. In January 2022, TripleA published a report which noted that Morocco topped the Arab countries in terms of crypto ownership, followed by Egypt, then UAE and 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.

In addition as per the report there are 32 million crypto users in Africa, 160 million in Asia, 38 million in Europe, and 28 million in North America, while Latin America has 24 million users.

Morocco was reported as having 878,168 crypto owners which was 2.38 percent of the population. It was followed by Egypt which had 1, 791,185 million crypto owners at 1.75 percent of the population.

MENA Web 3.0 Blockchain communications platform, Pravica launches the first DcFi

MENA Web 3.0 Blockchain communications platform, Pravica launches the first DcFi

Headquartered in Egypt with a presence in the UAE, Pravica, the everyone-to-everyone communication platform, offering a native Web 3.0 Blockchain-enabled unified, secure and privacy-compliant messaging platform, has launched the first DcFi (Decentralized Communications and Finance) platform under the name Pravica Club.

The platform is an extension of what Pravica has already been working on for the past three years. Pravica applications, built on Stacks Blockchain and secured by Bitcoin, has developed and launched a completely decentralized Web 3.0 communications platform that can be utilized by both enterprise and individuals securely and easily. Pravica is one of the very few in this sector that offers live products, the Pravica Messenger for mobile devices and now Pravica club.

Mohamed Abdou, Founder and CEO of Pravica explains, “Today there is a high demand for decentralized secure and private communications applications. Projects of this kind have already raised millions of dollars, even though they have yet to build something. At Pravica we are aware that building in Web3 is not easy, especially when it comes to communications apps because of the large amount of data coming in and out, that is why we started early on solving all the problems using a different stack of tools to ensure we have a highly scalable and easy to use the product. We have a great advantage and are offering tangible products.”

The Pravica Club is the first DcFi platform offering several interesting features. It is a DcFi platform because other than allowing for Web3 and native crypto conversations it also offers seamless in-chat payments and stacking pools similar to most DeFi applications out there.

The crypto-native decentralized messaging features include:

Users of Pravica Club are on-boarded with their decentralized identity from BTC domains which are registered through a smart contract on Stacks Blockchain, secured by Bitcoin. No email, phone number or any personal information is required.

All messages are encrypted. Messages can be cryptographically linked back to the crypto wallet by signing special messages with currently the Hiro wallet. In the future, Pravica is working to enable full functionalities of wallet-to-wallet conversations, as well as enabling users to invite others using wallet addresses for full interoperability.

Gideon Greaves, Managing Director CV VC Africa, says, “Pravica club is truly disrupting the way we communicate online. It’s only a matter of time before the web3 community moves away from centralised communication platforms. I believe Pravica club is where they will go. The features, secure platform and team within Pravica are world-class.”

Users don’t need to copy and paste NFTs to be used as profile pictures, but instead, extract the NFT from their wallet and showcase it as a verified avatar. The NFT is authenticated by each user’s wallet. In the future, these NFT avatars will be utilized to unlock other offerings in Pravica Club.

Users can send cryptocurrency payments, as likes, and enter stacking pools. Content creators can thus monetize their content through “Write to Earn” or “Create to Earn”, just like predecessors “Play to Earn”.

One of the biggest and unique features of the Pravica Club is the “eternal message”. Users in Pravica Clubs or in Pravica messenger will be able to extract a text of 1024 characters and mint it as an eternal message. The eternal message takes the form of an NFT. The ramifications are huge, Eternal messages can be used to save and engrave personal moments, like the first time someone said “I love you” or even business agreements or historical statements.

Mohamed Abdou, Founder and CEO of Pravica, explains, “We are empowering the Web 3 creator economy. This is especially relevant in the era of the Metaverse where individuals will need decentralized identities, secure communications and P2P financial transactions. DcFi, presented as Pravica Club, is the gateway towards a truly Web 3.0 creators economy.”

Bitcoin Payments in Bahrain being tested by Central Bank of Bahrain

Bitcoin Payments in Bahrain being tested by Central Bank of Bahrain

OpenNode, a “Bitcoin-as-a-payment-network” infrastructure company, has started testing a Bitcoin payment processing and payout solution in Bahrain, with the Central Bank of Bahrain’s regulatory Sandbox.

OpenNode intends to provide the infrastructure to help the country grow its economy and will showcase why Bitcoin is synonymous with better business.

Bahrain was one of the first to grant a crypto exchange license to RAIN crypto exchange and since then has accepted in Binance and others.

The CBB authorized OpenNode to participate in the new Regulatory Sandbox Framework that allows FinTech firms to test their ideas and solutions in the Kingdom.

OpenNode intends to bring payment innovation to Bahrain in using Bitcoin. 

Afnan Rahman, CEO and Co-Founder at OpenNode, stated”This is a watershed moment for the people of Bahrain, the Middle East and the Bitcoin economy as a whole. OpenNode’s leading Bitcoin infrastructure solution continues to pave the way for countries, governments and reputable financial institutions to adopt the Bitcoin standard and transact on the lightning network.”

OpenNode  is currently active in more than 160 countries around the world.

Dalal Buhejji, Executive Director – Investment Development for Financial Services at the Bahrain Economic Development Board said, “We are proud to have worked with the Central Bank towards establishing a strong financial services ecosystem within the Kingdom of Bahrain. As a country, we have always been ahead of the curve in adopting Fintech solutions thanks to our regulator’s flexibility and forward thinking. Financial services is an important sector within our economy, and fintech platforms such as the one soon to be tested by OpenNode are essential to ensure we continue to innovate while simultaneously adhering to best regulatory measures.”