Qatar launches “QFC Innovation Dome” for Digital assets to tokenize securities, real estate, bonds, shares on Blockchain

Qatar launches “QFC Innovation Dome” for Digital assets to tokenize securities, real estate, bonds, shares on Blockchain

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.

Present at the launch was His Excellency Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud Al-Thani, Governor, Qatar Central Bank, and His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed Bin Hamad Bin Qassim Al-Abdullah Al-Thani, Minister of Commerce and Industry.

Bandar bin Mohamed bin Saud Al-Thani, The Governor and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Qatar Central Bank noted in his speech, “ It is my pleasure to be at the launch of the Digital Assets Lab where as a country we are working to discover new tools to increase, enhance our competencies and capabilities in the digital sector. We have achieved strides in digital technology through a number of initiatives chief among them is electronic KYC ( Know your Customers) ad are working to develop and establish an ecosystem for startups and new companies to enhance the role of KYC.”

He added, “We are encouraging entrepreneurship as part and parcel of new financial technology strategy with local, regional and international customers with initiatives such as blockchain and digital assets. These are steps in the direction with initial modules for digital assets, modern databases, and increased internet speed as such as welcome collaboration for the sustainable development of the state of Qatar.”

Yousuf Mohamed Al-Jaida Board Member and Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Financial Centre in his speech offered a detailed explanation on the technology relevant to this lab, the benefits, pillars and the coding system and tokenization process. He explained, “The digital assets projects leans on three Qatar National strategies, the Qatar National Vision 2030, the Qatar Financial Center strategy and the fintech strategy of the state of Qatar, which aims to make the country a financial commercial hub 2030.”

He explained, “Tokenization is the process of creating tokens that represent tangible and intangible assets using DLT. The tokens could represent tangible assets such as real-estate or intangible assets such as securities. We will also work on fractionalization of assets, and will allow property to be part of those tokenized assets democratizing the process of investment.”

He added, “Smart contract, which are self-implementing contracts built on cryptographic programming systems, will allow the transfer of property, in distributed format.”

He discussed how DLT is an innovative technology that registers transactions, and can be expanded to include investment opportunities. As per Al Jaida, in the first phase tokenization will verify property, second will entail economy of tokens, third will entail development of smart contracts and the application which will manage these digitized tokens after which they will be offered on secondary markets.

As per the objectives of the digital assets lab, it will reinforce innovation and research as well as the establishment of DLT enabled startups, and companies, helping participants transform their ideas into tangible reality. Al Jaida states, “Participants in the digital assets lab will have three to six months to test their ideas, where they will have to meet feasibility requirements, benefits towards fintech ecosystem in Qatar before they graduate.”

The Digital asset lab will offer technology support, operational support, where startups and companies can cooperate with experts, regulators, test their use cases and register their businesses and receive licenses, offering the support from pilot to company formation allowing them to operate in Qatar’s fintech ecosystem.

Al Jaida 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.”

He called for continuous suggestions on what else can be tokenized moving forward as well as input into the regulations for digital asset ecosystem.

He then announced the name of the lab, which is the “QFC Innovation Dome”

Michael G. Ryan, the Chief Executive Officer at Qatar Financial Center Regulatory Authority, believes that the digital asset economy has a transformative nature and cooperation will be essential because as promising as it is, it also faces challenges.

He believes that with the equilibrium between innovation and regulatory oversight, confidence and trust will prevail among investors and firms. This is why the digital assets framework that QFCR has developed requires the engagement of all participants. He called for feedback on the digital assets public consultation paper announced in early October 2023, which will be open until January 2nd 2024, as these feedback will play a strong role in their policy decisions.

One of the Blockchain entities participating in QFC Innovation dome is R3. Bryan D’Souza Strategic Alliances & Partner Ecosystem Lead for EMEA at R3 stated in a comment made on the live LinkedIn event, “R3 is proud to be partnering with the QFC for this exciting Digital Assets Lab initiative.” Settlemint Blockchain is also one of the participants.

Prior to this The Qatar, Ministry of Finance, signed an agreement  with the World Economic Forum (WEF) to establish a “Centre of Excellence for the Fourth Industrial Revolution” in Qatar that will help to foster an environment for research and development in technologies that include AI ( artificial intelligence), blockchain, IoT (Internet of Things), renewable energy and others.

Qatar Finance Ministry partners with WEF for blockchain and AI development

Qatar Finance Ministry partners with WEF for blockchain and AI development

The Qatar, Ministry of Finance, signed an agreement  with the World Economic Forum (WEF) to establish a “Centre of Excellence for the Fourth Industrial Revolution” in Qatar that will help to foster an environment for research and development in technologies that include AI ( artificial intelligence), blockchain, IoT (Internet of Things), renewable energy and others.

The agreement was signed by HE the Minister of Finance, Ali bin Ahmed al-Kuwari and WEF founder and executive chairman Prof Klaus Schwab, in Doha. This strategic partnership paves the way for future collaboration, as the center aims to promote technological progress, diversify the economy and to promote sustainable development in Qatar, the Ministry of Finance noted.

It will also provide learning and training opportunities in those fields for Qatari nationals, developing their skills to keep pace with global developments.

“Qatar continues to fulfill its commitment to strengthening multilateral action to address current challenges to contribute to global growth,” Ministry of Finance added.

Overall Qatar has been pushing forth its blockchain and digital asset strategy, and has prepared a framework for digital assets as well as will be launching digital assets lab at the end of October 2023.

More than 50% of GCC and MENA employee cryptocurrency withdrawal from salaries in Ethereum

More than 50% of GCC and MENA employee cryptocurrency withdrawal from salaries in Ethereum

In a recent survey carried out by Deel, a global HR platform within the GCC and MENA region, the findings found that 51% of employees being paid in crypto prefer Ethereum

Employee cryptocurrency withdrawals within the GCC highlighted a growing level of adoption among individuals, who are now using cryptocurrencies as a viable medium for receiving employer payments. Conducting an extensive survey, Deel engaged with over 1600 employees and over 700 organizations in the UAE to gather valuable insights.

Of the 700 organizations surveyed in the UAE, 87% of employees were using crypto for salary payments. Of the 1600 employees surveyed only 8% were being paid in crypto in KSA while in Qatar it was 4.8%.

Exploring the Deel data beyond the UAE, Egypt places itself in the spotlight by a substantial margin, witnessing over 25,000 employee withdrawals using crypto in the last 12 months. Tracking Egypt’s trajectory, the roster of pioneering nations also includes Morocco, and Lebanon, each carving its path towards cryptocurrency adoption.

Notably, Ethereum (ETH) claims the top spot as the preferred cryptocurrency for withdrawals, commanding 51.2%. The US Dollar backed stablecoin USDC follows suit at 24.5%, while Bitcoin (BTC) controls 20.2% of the landscape. Solana (SOL) and Dash wrap up the top five most used cryptocurrencies with 2.5% and 1.6%, respectively, contributing to the crypto withdrawals landscape.

Tarek Salam, Head of Expansion from Deel, stated, “The Deel research provides an interesting window on the latest trends within the employment sector. It is truly great to witness the rapid surge in cryptocurrency adoption within the UAE and the wider region. The regulators have played a commendable role in encouraging greater participation in the cryptocurrency ecosystem and it’s a trend that we will be watching with interest as adoption continues to grow.”

Deel is a leading global compliance and payroll solution that helps businesses hire anyone, anywhere. Deel’s technology offers unmatched payroll, HR, compliance, perks, benefits, and other capabilities needed to hire and manage a global team.

Qatar public consultations for its digital assets and investment tokens legislation

Qatar public consultations for its digital assets and investment tokens legislation

As expected The Qatar Financial Centre (“QFC”) Regulatory Authority (“Regulatory Authority”) and the Qatar Financial Centre Authority (“QFC Authority”) have published a consultation paper for their digital assets framework which seeks to regulate investment tokens.

QFC is seeking feedback for the proposed digital assets legislation at a date no later than January 2nd 2024 which means the final legislation will not be available until the first or second quarter of 2024. This comes at the heels of QFC’s launch of its digital assets Lab which will be launched on October 29th.

Aditya Kumar Sinha,  Head Fintech & Digital Innovation at Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) Authority · states on LinkediN, “ The Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (QFCRA) and the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) Authority have jointly released a Consultation Paper, and we’re seeking your insights and feedback on our proposals to introduce a QFC Digital Assets Framework. This comprehensive framework is being developed in phases, with phase one dedicated to establishing legislation for a QFC tokenization framework. To make this vision a reality, the QFC Regulatory Authority and QFC Authority have meticulously prepared a range of draft legislative instruments.”

As part of the digital assets legislation is rulebook for Investment Tokens. These rules define the treatment of investment tokens representing specified products, making their activity subject to authorization and supervision, and amendments to existing rules to accommodate investment tokens.”

The Regulatory Authority and the QFC Authority has developed a QFC digital assets framework designed to achieve the following objectives,  develop a legal and regulatory framework for digital assets through the establishment of a tokenization framework in the QFC that will provide legal certainty and a trusted technology environment for digital assets;  provide legal recognition of digital assets and address issues such as ownership of the underlying assets, custody arrangements, the transfer of ownership, trading and exchange of digital assets, smart contracts, among other relevant matters.

It also seeks to develop a trusted technology infrastructure that embeds the standards necessary to ensure trust and confidence among consumers and support for the framework from high quality service providers; and develop a framework that delivers certainty and promotes trust and confidence in digital assets, the market, and the service providers.

QFC authority as mentioned based their proposed framework on benchmarks in Lichtenstein, Switzerland, the European Union, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, various states, and offshore financial Center frameworks in the GCC and other benchmark regulatory jurisdictions.

Henk Jan HoogendoornHenk Chief Financial Sector Officer at Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) Authority added in a post on LinkedIn, Our ambition is to have a solid Digital Asset Framework where real Asset can be tokenized with trusted tokenization partner and supervised by Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) Authority and Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (QFCRA) .”

As per the documents the proposed digital assets framework is being developed on a phased basis with phase one focusing on the establishment of legislation to provide for a QFC tokenization framework.

In terms of investment tokens, they are tokens that represent underlying’s that are Specified Products under the QFC Financial Services Regulations (“FSR”). They provide for any person who carries out an activity in relation to such a token to be conducting a regulated activity, requiring authorization and supervision by the Regulatory Authority.

So what is the Investment Tokens Rules 2023? It introduces enabling provisions for tokenizing rights (described as investment tokens), in specified products under the QFC Financial Services Regulations (“FSR”) and certain derivatives and Islamic financial contracts declared to be specified products in Regulatory Rules.

Stablecoins, CBDCs, and crypto are not under the regulatory guidelines and as such are prohibited. As per the legislation framework, “

As noted a cryptocurrency token that is used as an alternative to fiat currencies but is not issued or backed by any governmental authority and does not represent any ‘off-chain’ property, is an example of an excluded token. This includes tokens commonly referred to as fully backed stablecoins, as these are regarded as substitutes for currency but are not themselves fiat currency or monetary instruments.”

Yet regulated token services include token validators, token generation services, token custody services, operation of a token exchange, and token transfer services fall under the activities within the digital asset framework.

In addition the proposed amendments to the Special Company Regulations enable Special Companies to conduct the additional activity of issuing certificates, receipts, or other instruments, which would include tokenized instruments. This amendment is proposed on the basis that parties conducting a transaction in digital assets from the QFC (i.e., by way of example, a sukuk or bond Token issuance) may use a Special Company for this purpose.

This comes after QFC has commenced working with blockchain, DLT, and consultancies to develop their digital asset and DLT framework infrastructure.

This week Dubai’s DIFC (Dubai International Financial Center) also released its digital assets consultation paper.

Qatar ruling family member supports Qan private blockchain platform

Qatar ruling family member supports Qan private blockchain platform

The QAN platform unveiled its private blockchain on September 12th 2023. The platform which is both quantum resistant and compatible with Ethereum’s EVM received support from Qatar ruling family member H.E. Sheikh Mansoor Bin Khalifa Al Thani. 

In a privately held partner event prior to the public launch of QANplatform, H.E. Sheikh Mansoor Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Member of the Qatari Ruling Family, Chairman of MBK Holding, and former ICT Director for The Council of The Qatar Ruling Family Affairs stated, “We always evolve but not everyone leads the way. I’m proud to support the introduction of a cutting-edge deep tech project, such as QANplatform, in the Gulf region and on the global market.”

According to launch blog, “ QANplatform has unveiled the world’s first private blockchain that is both quantum-resistant and compatible with Ethereum’s EVM, while also enabling developers to code smart contracts in any programming language. The NIST-recommended primary post-quantum algorithm has been foreseen and integrated into the quantum-resistant QAN Private Blockchain. This integration enhances the security of blockchain solutions built on the platform, rendering them resilient against potential attacks from quantum computers.”

QANplatform’s multi-language smart contracts,allows  over 26 million new software developers are able to enter the Web3 space.

QANplatform is developing a hybrid blockchain. The launch of the QAN Private Blockchain marks the first step, followed by the Public TestNet this autumn and the QAN Public Blockchain’s expected release by late 2023.

With its three IPs (Intellectual Property): Lattice-based post-quantum cryptographic algorithm implemented in Go programming language, Multi-language Smart Contracts, Rapid Cloud Platform Deployment, and other unique features, QANplatform is ushering in a new era for Web3 operating systems and blockchain mass adoption.

According to its creators the QANplatform will be resistant to quantum computer attacks.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) plays a critical role in the field of post-quantum cybersecurity by providing leadership and guidance in the development of cryptographic standards and algorithms that can resist attacks from quantum computers. NIST announced their first post-quantum security standards on the 5th of July, 2022. NIST recommends CRYSTALS-Dilithium as the primary algorithm for quantum-resistant signatures — the same algorithm QANplatform has been chosen in 2021, one year before NIST’s announcement and is using through QAN XLINK, an Ethereum EVM-compatible cross-signer for post-quantum transactions. For robust enterprise and government blockchain use cases such as digital identity or CBDCs, it is essential to build them on quantum-resistant blockchain infrastructures from the very first point.

Johann Polecsak, Co-Founder and CTO of QANplatform  explained, “Designing a private blockchain that addresses both future challenges, such as quantum attacks, and current market issues, like high entry barriers for developers and enterprises, presented a significant and complex undertaking. Additionally, ensuring Ethereum compatibility to facilitate the onboarding of existing solutions onto the QANplatform added to the intricacy of the task. I am proud of the QANplatform team for achieving these milestones as a global pioneer. I am eagerly anticipating the opportunity to showcase the initial use cases of our partners operating on the QAN Private Blockchain.”

“We are looking forward to building our first use cases on the QAN private blockchain that will add value to Alpine, starting with Alpine Esports.” — said Guillaume Vergnas, Head of Esports, Gaming & Web3 at Alpine.

While Dym Budorin, Co Founder and CEO of Hacken stated, “The quantum threat is a real issue that can’t be neglected by the web3 community. I’m happy to see that the QAN private blockchain is addressing this issue. We are proud to be part of the celebration of the first milestone.”

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.

GCC and MENA Family offices can make their gold work for them with blockchain tokenization

GCC and MENA Family offices can make their gold work for them with blockchain tokenization

If you are a GCC or MENA based family office that has a portfolio that includes precious metals such as gold, silver or others, or you intend to in the near future, but are hesitant because in the past you were unable to make revenues from the purchase, you now can. With the advent of blockchain, Web3 technologies and tokenization a sweet spot is upon us. 

Precious metal owners can generate earnings on their gold and make it work for them just by holding it in tokenized form. Aurus Technologies, headquartered in the UAE with offices in the UK is offering family offices the opportunity to tokenize real world assets through its sustainable tokenization as a service solution (TAAS) platform.

The GCC and MENA region has all the ingredients to make gold work for family offices. First the region itself is a hot bed for investors, secondly precious metals especially gold are well revered and invested in and third Web3 technologies including tokenization on the blockchain is revolutionizing the precious metal industry in the region.

Family offices can make their tokenized gold work for them throughout the lifetime of their ownership.

According to Mark Gesterkamp, Chief Business Development Officer, Aurus Technologies, “By minting a digital representation of vaulted bullion in the form of tGOLD, tSILVER and tPLATINUM, precious metals can now be utilized and earn transactional revenue in the digital economy.”

The company does not sell gold, but utilizes software to make gold work for its owners by allowing these tokenized real assets to be transacted and traded. Mark explains, “Part of the transaction fees flow back to the bullion owners and providers.”

  

The Growth of Investors in GCC and MENA

Recent research has shown that there are nearly 6,000 UHNW (ultra-high net worth) individuals in the Middle East with a combined net worth of US $995 billion. The number of UHNW individuals in the region is expected to increase by 24.6% in the next 5 years while the region is also expected to remain the fourth largest wealth hub in the world.

In addition the UAE is increasingly becoming a hub for family offices, with some of the world’s big names setting up offices in the country to tap the market. The same can be witnessed in KSA, Qatar, and elsewhere.

As such the region is ripe with not only a growing number of family offices but wealth that can be deployed intelligently.

Growth of interest in Digital assets

HNWI individuals and family offices are increasing their exposure to alternative assets in the form of digital assets and the MENA region is no exception. The Ocorian report found that 90% of those surveyed said their clients are looking to include crypto and digital assets in their investment strategies.

The report noted that family offices run by younger tech savvy generations want to make a move into investing in crypto and digital assets yet remain concerned about the challenges and risks.

This is more reflective in the MENA region. The Lombard Odier report found that 79% of younger Middle East investors believe there are significant opportunities in the digital and tech sectors.

Mark believes that Aurus’s blockchain tokenization offering provides tech savvy young investors with a valuable investment opportunity, easing their concerns, by offering digital assets backed by gold, silver or other precious metals. He states “Gold is understood by all, and now the new generation can put it to work sustainably and with less risk than crypto.”

 

Bullish on Gold regardless of market trends

As economic difficulties prevail globally, with worries of inflation, recession, and banking failures, precious metals are set to shine.

Tresor Gold research stated that VC firms and family offices will increase gold allocations in next 18 months. The study covered investors in in Canada, Australia, the US, UK, UAE, France, Germany, Switzerland, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Yet regardless of whether precious metals are seen as bullish or not, just by tokenizing gold and making it work for owners, price fluctuations are no longer relevant.  

Mark explains, “Regardless of whether gold is bullish or not, owners who have tokenized their gold will continue to make money because of the transactions. AurusX our native token for example is like a hedge for precious metals. Holders of AurusX or their own tokenized gold can earn yields in any market condition because they earn for each transaction carried out.”

Gold Investment challenges overcome with Tokenization 

Tokenizing precious metals and gold on the blockchain relieves investors from the challenges faced from utilizing traditional gold investment vehicles.  

When investing in physical gold there are always extra costs for securing, insuring and storing the gold and in return liquidating the physical gold or earning yields is also difficult.

Even with Gold index funds, or ETFs (Exchange traded funds) while investors do receive passive earnings long term, these investors do not own the gold.

Investing directly in gold via gold shares (mine shares) of gold mine operators is risky as well, as it is dependent on the performance of the mining operator and the stock exchange.

With Aurus, there is a one to one backing of the underlying bullion generating yields, making most of the challenges a thing of the past. Mark confirms, “Aurus is setting the standard in precious metals tokenization adhering to the decentralized nature of the blockchain. We work with multiple storage locations around the globe including reputable partners such as Spanish refinery Sempsa JP and vaulting facilitator Brinks.”

The Aurus Opportunity a solution for all

Since 2018 Aurus has been a strong proponent of opening the precious metals market to everyone with a smartphone using the Aurus application.

The company is leveraging metal-backed blockchain technology to help gold, silver, and platinum businesses democratize these assets via the digital economy while earning passive rewards in the digital assets & DeFi space.

By modernizing the precious metals market with Web3 technologies, it is increasing access, usability & trust, ultimately unlocking global demand.

Mark concludes, “The total size of tokenized illiquid assets, including real estate and natural resources could reach $16.1 trillion by 2030. As such we are playing our part by offering an open ended solution that allows any party to bring gold to Web3 under the standards of both the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) and DMCC (Dubai Multi Commodities Center). ” The bigger the Aurus system grows the more precious metals will be paid out to AX holders.”

For the first time in the region, Aurus will be offering gold tokenization solutions to family offices allowing them to put their gold to work and generate yields. Mark adds, “We welcome partners in the UAE and GCC to showcase our ecosystem and work together to tokenize part of their portfolio by taking either a direct position in Aurus TGold and TSilver or tokenizing their own gold or even investing in AurusX tokens.” Aurus is currently seeking to raise $500,000 from the sale of its AurusX Tokens.

Aurus is working with greener future in mind, by reducing CO2 emission. It is collaborating with green initiatives globally. Mark states, “Blockchain allows for easier and transparent collaboration with ESG initiatives and we will continuously seek partnerships in positioning precious metals towards a greener investing alternative. We aim to ensure everyone can buy precious metals on the blockchain in a more sustainable manner.”

For more info check out the Aurus video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtFdmbHLoPg

Qatar research Innovation Council: Blockchain, AI, and metaverse most important tech transformations

Qatar research Innovation Council: Blockchain, AI, and metaverse most important tech transformations

In a recent interview with Qatar News Agency, the  Secretary-General of Qatar’s Research Development and Innovation Council (QRDI) Eng. Omar Ali Al Ansari affirmed that artificial intelligence (AI) science and the digital revolution related to “metaverse” and “blockchain” are among the most important technological transformations in the current era.

He believes that these technologies are important due to their contributions to the development of scientific research and innovation, through its ability to analyze huge amounts of data and process them faster and more effectively, which leads to the discovery of new patterns in the data and contributes to innovative scientific discoveries.

Al Ansari  added that  the digital revolution and Blockchain technology will provide new levels of security, transparency and security for information, which contributes to the development of methods of dealing with information and data, storing and exchanging them. It also enhances trust and cooperation and opens new horizons in this field.

As such the council aims to promote technological development by stimulating and nurturing talent, as well as expanding the knowledge of the research and development community in the areas of artificial intelligence, big data analysis, and others.

The Council endevours to  provide new opportunities for cooperation with relevant authorities from various countries of the world, with the aim of exchanging information and expertise and promoting scientific and technological progress.

According to Al-Ansari  the Council is about to launch a new program package to support innovation in the private sector, as part of the third national development strategy, where it provided new platforms and programs in order to explore innovation opportunities in a limited range of major national companies and some government agencies, which establishes the importance of adopting innovative solutions in order to build new competitive advantages to raise its production efficiency.

Al Ansari explained that QOI program has received, since its launch, more than 400 submissions from innovators across Qatar and the world,  all of which focused on the areas of health, energy, environment, transportation, education and smart cities, noting that the council announced during the past months that 9 companies won this grant.

In addition the Product Development Management Program, which is being implemented in cooperation with Qatar Development Bank, has attracted 25 participants from 11 small and medium local companies.  About 30 senior government employees (directors and heads of departments) from 10 ministries participated in the Government Innovation Leadership Program. (QNA) 

These statements come at a time where,  Qatar Genesis Technologies, the developers of the Maxya Blockchain platform, are holding meetings and workshops with banks in Qatar to learn from the experiences of fintech.

According to Mazen El-Masri Cofounder and CEO of Genesis Technologies in a LinkedIn statement, “ A banking-as-a-service approach can be adopted to expedite the move from the monolithic structures of legacy core banking systems into a lighter service-oriented banking solution stack. To achieve this transformation, it is now more important than ever for banks to partner with (or acquire) fintechs with solid innovations and at the same time exploit their existing assets to enable new sources of growth in their reconfigured banking value chain.”

He added, “ With the sponsorship of Qatar Central Bank, we enjoyed a great discussion with the banking sector in Qatar with over 50 attendees. We at Genesis Technologies LLC are enthusiastic about the coming banking/fintech partnership and we expect that it will bring to light the next generation of banks.”

Qatar has been strongly moving forward in its blockchain and digital asset strategy. It seems we will be seeing a lot in Qatar over the next few years.

Blockchain report shows that Blockchain will boost GDP by $2.1 trillion in growth markets including MENA

Blockchain report shows that Blockchain will boost GDP by $2.1 trillion in growth markets including MENA

A new report entitled, “Disrupt and Innovate: Harness the power of blockchain” published by Singapore Agile Dynamics, a research based consultancy services, blockchain technology will boost global gross domestic product (GDP) by US$2.1 trillion of the projected global GDP in 2030. Approximately half (49%) of the US$2.1 trillion will come from growth markets. This is especially important finding given the growth of blockchain implementation in the GCC and MENA region.

Countries such as Qatar, KSA, UAE, and even Oman are building their capacities and use cases utilizing emergent technologies such as blockchain, AI, IoT and others, and their GDPs will be positively affected.

As per the report as well, customized layer 1 blockchain protocol offers potential benefits such as increased financial inclusion, reduced transaction costs, and improved transparency – all of which align with the concept of technology sovereignty. It empowers entities to have ownership and control of their data, while safeguarding their sovereignty, reducing dependence on external entities, being more competitive on the global stage, and both encouraging and supporting domestic technology companies.

The report also noted that as per the study, 73% of respondents consider that a reduction in operational costs will be one of the main advantages of blockchain technology. This is followed closely by 67% of respondents believing that a key advantage of blockchain will be improving speed and efficiency. Other advantages noted include improving security and privacy (55%), bringing innovation (50%), and financial processes (44%).

Agile Dynamics explores what the future of blockchain technology could look like, including next generation technology characteristics. The report maps out three stages of the blockchain technology maturity journey, which it names as Emerging Blockchain Technology, Next-Gen Blockchain, and Fourth Generation Chain. In the latter, a permissionless, decentralized, scalable blockchain protocol will be achieved. It will be focused on interoperability challenges, designed to provide the fastest and most efficient cross-chain interoperability, speed, scalability, and security. It will also integrate micro-validation and tokenization, amongst numerous other benefits.

Speaking on the report and its contents, Paul Lalovich, Managing Partner at Agile Dynamics, said: “The world of blockchain is evolving rapidly, and is becoming an increasingly vital component of our ultra-connected world. Our report demonstrates how blockchain could be the most effective solution to begin a technology sovereignty journey, thanks to its ability to support the concept through providing decentralisation, data ownership and privacy, open source principles, trust and security, interoperability and more. By leveraging blockchain, you have the ability for more control and autonomy over your technology infrastructure and systems. This reduces dependence on external entities, and helps to safeguard your sovereignty. Blockchain is also a distinct and cost-effect means to stimulate innovation and foster growth, particularly in an economic context, and it has been demonstrated to be more cost-effective than any other technology for building out a project with the highest forecasted compound annual growth rate through to 2030.”

Lalovich continued: “Agile Dynamics is committed to helping organizations to harness the power of technology, to achieve digital transformation and to create differentiation by applying technology in a practical business context. We use deep insights derived from data, as demonstrated in ‘Disrupt and Innovate: Harness the Power of Blockchain’, in combination with extensive experience across industries and applications to help our clients realize business opportunities for growth.”