Blade Labs joins Qatar’s digital assets lab partnering with The Hashgraph Association

Blade Labs joins Qatar’s digital assets lab partnering with The Hashgraph Association

Blade Labs is a financial technology that tokenizes financial productions and services secure a fintech license at Qatar Financial Center, and admittance to the Digital Asset Lab, as it partners with The Hashgraph Association, a Swiss digital enabler of the Hedera Network, to utilize DLT ( distributed ledger technology) to foster and advance financial services to the masses of the MENA region.

In addition Blade Labs is registering for a Financial Services Regulatory Association (FSRA) license in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM).

Kamal Youssefi, President of The Hashgraph Association, said, “The Hashgraph Association is actively invested in ensuring digital enablement and inclusion, particularly, in the Middle East. Our strategic investment in Blade Labs, which provides innovative fintech solutions in the region, is testimony to our commitment to empowering enterprises with Web3-compliant solutions.

The partnership comes at the heels of two major government-backed Venture Studio initiatives being undertaken by The Hashgraph Association in the region; together, these co-investment ventures are valued at $300 million over the next 5-years.

As part of the collaboration, Blade Labs will provide both a conventional and Shariah compliant Digital Securities Platform to support these investments. The strategic investment and partnership address the growing need for digital transformation solutions required by enterprises to participate in the digital economy, effectively.

Blade Labs is currently focused on providing non-custodial fintech APIs that distribute tokenized funds across multiple jurisdictions in a compliant and user-friendly manner. Tokenizing funds enhances liquidity with real-time settlement, reduces operational costs, and improves collateral management by allowing these funds to be used as collateral across various platforms. These benefits make tokenized funds an attractive option for both traditional and digital-native investors, offering better returns, capital efficiency, and advanced risk management.

“As an investor and strategic ecosystem partner of Blade Labs, The Hashgraph Association’s deep multi-level relationship will enable us to integrate our cutting-edge digital asset solutions with more businesses in the Middle East and beyond. We are also well placed to support the execution of strategic initiatives in the region to grow and empower ecosystems that will help us drive digital transformation.” said Sami Mian, CEO of Blade Labs.

The Hashgraph Association has been at the forefront of key ventures in the Middle East and GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) region. The first in Saudi Arabia has already commenced this year to build a $250 million DeepTech Venture Studio in Riyadh, in close partnership with the Ministry of Investment Saudi Arabia (MISA), and the second in Qatar aims to build a $50 million Digital Assets Venture Studio in Doha, in collaboration with the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), with both these partnerships considered long-term and spanning over the next five years. 

Qatar Fintech Hub prepares for Digital asset hackathon

Qatar Fintech Hub prepares for Digital asset hackathon

In a linkedin post, Henk Jan Hoogendoorn, Chief of Financial Services Sector at Qatar Financial Centre Authority, noted that discussions were heating up with regards to the upcoming digital assets, takaful and Insurtech hackathon. He also mentioned discussions on the launch of a new wave of accelerator and incubator programs as well as a Fintech survey 2024.

He noted, “Qatar FinTech Hub on a roll. We discussed upcoming #hackathon with the focus on Digital Assets and takafel insurtech. As well as the launch of new wave of accelerator #incubator programs and Fintech survey 2024.”

Those present in the discussions included Qatar Development Bank and Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) Authority Qatar Central Bank.

This is part and parcel of the efforts Qatar is making on both the Blockchain and digital assets front, especially after launching the digital assets lab earlier this year.

Among the themes being focused on in Qatar is tokenization of real estate, securities and other financial instruments.

Recently Bahrain Central Bank graduated the first fractional tokenization platform for Islamic Sukuk, called INABLR.

Qatar’s digital asset lab adds UK Islamic Finance group

Qatar’s digital asset lab adds UK Islamic Finance group

UK based Khalij Group, a well-established financial solutions provider and Islamic Finance solutions has joined the Qatar digital asset lab based out of the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC).

Khalij Group is a conglomerate focused on servicing the needs and requirements of the Islamic financial services industry and Islamic capital markets, including creating innovative and be-spoke structured solutions, fund raising and distribution of both debt and equity instruments.

In a LinkedIn post, Henk Jan Hoogendoorn, Chief Financial Officer at QFC stated, “ Khalij Group will join Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) Authority digital asset Lab and will bring a wealth of experience in fintech as well Islamic investments , structuring and sharia advisory from the UK to Qatar and GCC.”

Headquartered in the United Kingdom, Khalij Group boasts a robust presence across key international financial hubs including the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Qatar and the United States of America.

In October 2023, Qatar announced one of the biggest digital assets initiatives in the country and the GCC region, the Qatar Innovation Dome for digital assets. As per the live event keynotes, the digital assets lab will develop tokenization platforms and ecosystems for everything that has value whether tangible assets or intangible assets including real estate assets, securities, Sukuk, bonds and others in the future utilizing DLT (distributed ledger technologies), blockchain, and smart contracts.

The Qatar Central Bank(QCB) also announced that it would be working to attract Big Tech and Fintech entities in the fields of Blockchain, AI, Tokenization, Digital assets and crypto to the country. As per its third financial sector strategy launched by HE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohamed Bin Abdulrahman Bin Jassim Al Thani, the Qatar Central Bank recommended enhancing financial inclusion, measures to facilitate building a world-class shared market infrastructure and establishing a financial technology talent center of excellence.

In addition, the Qatar Financial Centre Authority (QFCA), the legal and tax arm of the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC signed an MOU with the Asian Institute of Digital Finance (AIDF), a research institute of the National University of Singapore (NUS), to embark on projects encompassing ESG, Fintech, digital assets, Web3 and other emerging technologies.

All these efforts seek to place Qatar as a leading country for tokenization and digital asset implementations.

Qatar’s digital asset regulations catches the eye of Notabene

Qatar’s digital asset regulations catches the eye of Notabene

Notabene, a crypto compliance firm that offers compliance solutions with FATF Travel Rule, has shown interest in Qatar’s proposed digital assets regulatory rules framework and has commented on Qatar’s consultation paper.

Notabene offers Safe Transact platform that helps financial institutions and crypto businesses unlock their full potential in the digital economy. With a focus on security, privacy, and end-user experience, Notabene customers use a multi-source data and software to automate real-time decision-making, perform counterparty sanctions screening, identify self-hosted wallets, and complete the smooth roll out of Travel Rule compliance, all in line with global and local regulations.

In a recent tweet on X Notabene welcomed the opportunity to comment on Qatar’s proposed digital assets regulatory rules consultation paper.

Notabene noted that they applaud the Qatar Financial Centre (“QFC”) Regulatory Authority (“Regulatory Authority”) and the Qatar Financial Centre Authority (“QFC Authority”) for taking the time to put together a comprehensive framework for digital assets.

Notabene added,” The process undertaken by both the QFC Regulatory Authority and QFC Authority to solicit public engagement on this important topic and welcome the opportunity to be part of the ongoing dialogue.”

Notabene, the crypto industry’s y pre-transaction authorization decision making platform, helps to identify and stop high-risk activity before it occurs. The platform offers a secure, holistic view of crypto transactions, enabling customers to automate real-time decision-making, perform counterparty sanctions screening, identify self-hosted wallets, conduct VASP Due Diligence, and complete the smooth rollout of Travel Rule compliance, in line with global regulations.

According to Notabene only Travel Rule compliance gives VASPs transaction-level counterparty and sanction insight, allowing them to recognize if their clients are sending transactions to sanctioned entities, wallets, or jurisdictions. VASPs worldwide are in different stages of compliance, which leaves many companies vulnerable to exposure to sanctioned individuals.

In its comment to Qatar’s consultation paper, Notabene states, “In particular, strict compliance with the Travel Rule is a prerequisite for VASPs to obtain licenses in these jurisdictions. We recommend that the QFC Regulatory Authority take the same approach. The ideal way to avoid dealing with non-compliance after settlement and its associated challenges is to ensure both TSPs assess and approve the
transaction before the Originator TSP executes it. This is in line with FATF’s recommendations.”

Qatar recently released its digital assets framework requesting feedback on it by January 2nd 2024.

Genesis Technologies joins QFC digital assets Lab for Blockchain use cases

Genesis Technologies joins QFC digital assets Lab for Blockchain use cases

Henk Jan Hoogendoorn has confirmed that Qatar Genesis Technologies, a Qatar University tech spinoff is working with Qatar Financial Center Authority on possible use cases in their digital assets labs.

Lebanese-Canadian national Mazen El Masri, Co-Founder and CEO of Genesis Technologies, the tech company which developed Maxya, is working with QFC digital assets labs on several blockchain use cases.

As per the post the possible use case could include tokenization, security tokes and fractional ownership.

On Sunday October 29th, Qatar announced one of the biggest digital assets initiatives in the country and the GCC region, the Qatar Innovation Dome for digital assets. As per the live event keynotes, the digital assets lab will develop tokenization platforms and ecosystems for everything that has value whether tangible assets or intangible assets including real estate assets, securities, Sukuk, bonds and others in the future utilizing DLT ( distributed ledger technologies), blockchain, and smart contracts.

Qatar Financial Centre Authority (QFCA) signed MOUs with Blockchain solution provider R3 and Blockchain SettleMint platform. The agreement with Settlemint will also as with R3 work on Blockchain and digital asset initiatives in the financial sector in the digital assets lab.

Qatar Financial Centre and Blockchain company Settlemint, to tokenize private shares and equity

Qatar Financial Centre and Blockchain company Settlemint, to tokenize private shares and equity

In a recent LinkedIn post, Henk Jan Hoogendoorn, Chief Financial Sector Officer at Qatar Financial Centre Authority (QFCA) announced the commencement of next steps with Blockchain solutions provider Settlemint to tokenize private shares and equity for companies.

As noted in the post, “ Next steps on tokenization of private shares / Private Equity discussed with our digital asset lab partner SettleMint both for Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) Authority and any  investment manager that would that would like to tokenize or fractionalize investments.”

Matthew Van Niekerk, Co-founder, SettleMint, commenting on the post stated, ” Thank you for hosting us both physically and digitally for the meeting Henk Jan Hoogendoorn! Really appreciated the opportunity to exchange views on the future of finance, financial markets infrastructure and the tokenization of private securities. Exciting times ahead for the industry!”

In April 2023, Qatar Financial Centre Authority (QFCA) signed its second Blockchain MOU with Settlemint, after signing its first with R3. The agreement with Settlemint aimed to work on Blockchain and digital asset initiatives in the financial sector. QFCA and Settlemint agreed to explore potential synergies with industry participants, including financial institutions, fintech firms, and corporate organizations, to accelerate the adoption of blockchain and digital asset business models and solutions.

This announcement also comes immediately after the Qatar Financial Centre launched its digital assets Lab under the name Qatar Innovation dome. The event which was held on Sunday 29th of October 2023 included various keynotes, that explained how the digital assets lab will develop tokenization platforms and ecosystems for everything that has value whether tangible assets or intangible assets including real estate assets, securities, Sukuk, bonds and others in the future utilizing DLT ( distributed ledger technologies), blockchain, and smart contracts.

Yousuf Mohamed Al-Jaida Board Member and Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Financial Centre in his speech announced that one of the first use cases to be explored within the digital assets lab will be tokenized carbon assets. He goes on to state, “Secondly will be tokenizing private company shares to facilitate trading and management of these shares, as well as transforming Sukuk bonds into digital assets in addition to tokenized real estate to facilitate the buying and selling of real estate assets.”

Qatar Financial Centre Authority signs MOU with Asian Institute of Digital Finance for Web3 and digital assets projects

Qatar Financial Centre Authority signs MOU with Asian Institute of Digital Finance for Web3 and digital assets projects

The Qatar Financial Centre Authority (QFCA), the legal and tax arm of the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC have signed an MOU with the Asian Institute of Digital Finance (AIDF), a research institute of the National University of Singapore (NUS), to embark on projects encompassing ESG, Fintech, digital assets, Web3 and other emerging technologies.

In addition to these efforts, both partners will actively facilitate the exchange of knowledge and insights to further their common goals and objectives.

Yousuf Mohamed Al-Jaida, Chief Executive Officer, QFC, expressed his optimism about this partnership, stating, “We are excited to join forces with the Asian Institute of Digital Finance at the National University of Singapore to explore and capitalize on the numerous opportunities in the ever-evolving digital landscape. This partnership reflects our commitment to innovation and our belief in the power of collaboration to drive positive change. We see this collaboration as a significant step, not only in the direction of constructing a more inclusive financial sector but also in forging a path towards a more sustainable future.”

Likewise, Associate Professor Huang Ke Wei, Executive Director, NUS Asian Institute of Digital Finance expressed their enthusiasm for the collaboration, saying, “The NUS Asian Institute of Digital Finance empowers the future of finance through digital innovation and academic excellence, and provides thought leadership through a holistic blend of education, research, and business incubation. Our vision is to catalyse the evolution of the digital economy by fostering innovation and imparting knowledge. This collaboration with QFC marks a significant step towards fostering cross-regional knowledge exchange, setting the stage for a brighter, interconnected digital future.” The partnership between the QFC and NUS AIDF underscores their shared commitment to innovation and sustainability and catalysing positive global transformation by leveraging technology.

QFC has been moving forward with its digital asset strategy and framework.

Qatar Financial Centre to launch its digital assets lab on October 29th 2023

Qatar Financial Centre to launch its digital assets lab on October 29th 2023

On their LinkedIn page, the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) announced  that in its journey to accelerate the development of Qatar’s digital ecosystem it will be launching the QFC Digital Assets Lab, a ground-breaking programme aimed at accelerating open innovation and promoting peer collaboration within the industry through proof-of-concept and proof-of-value, on September 6th 2023.

As per the post, “ It is with pleasure that we invite you to join us on this momentous event, that will be streamed live via LinkedIn and YouTube. The event will present the qualifying criteria for entry, the Lab’s operating model and key benefits, and announce the opening for applications.”

The post adds, “With the QFC Digital Assets Lab, we aim to seamlessly integrate transformative technologies into real-world applications, spanning finance, supply chain management, energy and sustainability, compliance and reporting, healthcare and beyond.”

A few weeks prior to this announcement, Henk Jan Hoogendoorn , Chief Financial Sector Officer at Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) Authority revealed that the digital assets framework that the authority has been working on will soon be launched along with the digital asset lab.

As noted, QFC is working with Price Waterhouse Cooper ( PWC) to finalize the digital assets framework and the launch of the digital assets lab.

While Qatar has not opened up to the crypto scene, its financial center is opening up to digital assets enabling them to tokenize asset classes to facilitate the needs of qualified investors with its digital assets framework.

In addition Qatar Financial Centre Authority (QFCA) financial business center has been moving forward with its blockchain strategy.It signed MOUs with both Blockchain solution provider R3 Blockchain SettleMint platform. The agreement with Settlemint will also as with R3 work on Blockchain and digital asset initiatives in the financial sector.

Article updated on October 4th 2023 with new launch date information.

Qatar Financial Centre Authority to launch digital assets lab soon with support of PwC

Qatar Financial Centre Authority to launch digital assets lab soon with support of PwC

In a recent LinkedIn post, Henk Jan Hoogendoorn , Chief Financial Sector Officer at Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) Authority revealed that the digital assets framework that the authority has been working on will soon be launched along with the digital asset lab.

As noted, QFC is working with Price Waterhouse Cooper ( PWC) to finalize the digital assets framework and the launch of the digital assets lab.

As Hoogendoorn noted, “ We are working on digitalassets framework together with Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (QFCRA) supported by the expertise of PwC .We are making good progress on preparation of Digital Asset Lab to be launched soon.”

Prior to this Qatar Financial Authority had taken several inititiatves towards advancing DLT, Blockchain and digital assets within the financial sector.

In May speaking to LaraontheBlock, Hoogendoorn stated, “We are developing our digital assets framework to allow for public tokenization of assets, including securities, bonds, and real-estate.” He emphasized that they will not go into crypto, NFTs (Non Fungible Tokens) or commodities at this time.

In addition Qatar Financial Centre Authority and Blockchain solution provider R3 signed an MOU to develop and grow Qatar’s fintech industry using technologies such as DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology), as well as an MOU with Blockchain entity Settlemint.

In August 2022 Qatar had released a national consultation paper about the “National Blockchain Blueprint for Qatar”. The paper was collaboratively developed by CRA, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, and Qatar University. The final version was released in March 2023.

Again it seems countries across the GCC and MENA region are embracing blockchain, digital assets, and to some degree virtual assets, the future is looking crypto bright.

Could Qatar be creating a cloud based blockchain platform to accelerate its Blockchain blueprint strategy?

Could Qatar be creating a cloud based blockchain platform to accelerate its Blockchain blueprint strategy?

Dr Mohamed Abdallah and Dr Aiman Erbad, Associate Professors at  Qatar’s HBKU College of Science and Engineering published an article on how Qatar’s Blockchain blueprint will boost the adoption of blockchain and their recommendations for accelerating the growth. They proposed hosting a high-performance cloud based blockchain platform to accelerate prototyping and testing or creating a physically distributed blockchain network among different institutions, including ministries and universities, which can serve as a test bed that can also host actual blockchain applications, among other recommendations.

The College of Science and Engineering at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), as well as the College of Engineering at Qatar University (QU), and the Communications and Regulatory Authority jointly developed the National Blockchain Blueprint, aimed at defining the requirements and incentives necessary for the adoption of blockchain technology in Qatar.

As per the article, the blueprint has several goals, including facilitating the emergence of startups and new companies, identifying successful methods through pilot projects, promoting creativity and innovation, and upgrading infrastructure to enable a conducive environment for blockchain technology.

The authors also discuss various recommendations that could be incorporated within the Blockchain blueprint.

One of the key recommendations of the blueprint is to encourage the development of pilot projects in priority sectors such as Fintech, Energy, and Health.

The Blockchain blueprint also wants to provide an adequate incubation environment for promising blockchain startups. The authors recommend creating a new consortium-based funding organization that involves all stakeholders to promote blockchain-based startups and businesses.

To facilitate the deployment and testing of new blockchain applications, The authors also recommend hosting a high-performance cloud-based blockchain platform to accelerate prototyping and testing.

The final recommendation is to create a physically distributed blockchain network among different institutions, including ministries and universities, which can serve as a test bed that can host actual blockchain applications. By having a distributed network, blockchain-based solutions can be tested in a real-world environment, and the risks and potential opportunities can be identified.

Qatar has been moving forward with its blockchain initiatives and the Qatar Financial Centre Authority has been at the forefront of integrating blockchain, DLT, digital assets into the financial market. More recently they even discussed digital assets for Islamic Finance and signed an MOU with Malaysian Labuan IBFC well known for its Islamic finance products.

Finally and most recently Qatar Financial Authority were in discussions with Qatar Development Bank to discuss the need for digitization of products and services in digital assets, kYC, SMEFinance and the metaverse. 

It would seem that the Qatar Blockchain blueprint is moving forward in great strides.