WEMADE blockchain metaverse gaming developer to grow gaming industry in Saudi Arabia

WEMADE blockchain metaverse gaming developer to grow gaming industry in Saudi Arabia

WEMADE, the South Korean game developer shifting to blockchain NFTs, DeFi and metaverse has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with KSA based Nine66, a Savvy Games Group (“Savvy”) company, to drive the development of the gaming industry in Saudi Arabia.

Savvy’s long-term objective is to drive the long-term growth and development of the games and e-sports sectors in Saudi Arabia. The group consists of five independent entities covering areas such as game development, e-sports, investments and more.

KSA based Nine66 is committed to building and investing in the thriving gaming ecosystem in Saudi Arabia. Nine66 is driving growth and success in the region’s gaming industry through a range of initiatives and partnerships, such as publishing, incubator and accelerator programs, training and events, as well as supporting virtual and real-life game development communities.

Saudi Arabia is a strong foothold in the Middle East’s gaming market, with over 80% of its 36 million population identifying as gamers. The partnership between WEMADE and Nine66 will support the local gaming ecosystem through training and educating Saudi game developers. 

Additionally, the partnership will explore various programs aimed at knowledge transfer, sponsorship of regional events, and expanding networks in the region to help grow the Saudi gaming industry and create new opportunities for developers and gamers alike.

WEMADE recently launched its new flagship game MIR M Global on January 31, which currently tops the ranks of video games in RPG category in multiple Middle Eastern countries including Saudi Arabia. 

Furthermore, in January 2023, WEMADE announced the establishment of a subsidiary in Abu Dhabi in the UAE, another gaming hub and plans to open another branch in MENA region and work with local projects and companies.

The announcement comes at a time when KSA will be hosting for the first time the Web3 Delight Summit in Riyadh KSA on March 6th 2023 at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center.

The event, which aims to engage, empower, and support a proactive, customised, collaborative, and secure advanced economy, will be attended by over 3,000 people in person and online from more than 40 countries.

Saudi Nuqtah NFT signs MOU with Saudi STC Group to tokenize photographs

Saudi Nuqtah NFT signs MOU with Saudi STC Group to tokenize photographs

KSA born Nuqtah NFT marketplace has signed an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Saudi Telecom group (STC) to tokenize photographs from stc’s Sarha project and mint them in the form of non-fungible assets exclusively on the Nuqtah NFT marketplace.

As per the blog, STC is committed to delivering the best customers experience through its advanced technology and innovative solutions.

Sarha, the world’s first content-generating camel, is set to take its viewers on a journey of discovery. The camel travelled around Saudi Arabia in tandem with the most skilled photographers, capturing stunning images and videos that will be shared with the world.

Sarha’s journey will take its viewers further than ever before with the broadest network and widest coverage. This unique project provided by stc  has be used to create amazing experiences for people all over the world.

As such Nuqtah and stc have come together to create a unique collaboration that will bring the world of photography and blockchain technology together. Through this collaboration, Nuqtah will be creating Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) from photographs taken by stc.

This Memorandum of Understanding was signed on the main stage at the Leap 2023 Tech Forum in the capital, Riyadh, KSA. 

Salwa Radwi, Founder of Nuqtah NFT on LinkedIn stated, “At Nuqtah, we are proud to be the first blockchain and Web3 Company in Saudi Arabia to gain this amount of trust and approval from public and private bodies on a national and international scale.”

Saudi Aramco partners with Blockchain entity Data Gumbo for blockchain innovation in oil and gas sector

Saudi Aramco partners with Blockchain entity Data Gumbo for blockchain innovation in oil and gas sector

Saudi Aramco has signed a memorandum of agreement with Data Gumbo, a US based Blockchain technology company which developed a blockchain as a service platform to streamline smart contracts management for industrial customers. The agreement between Saudi Aramco and Data Gumbo is for Blockchain collaboration over a three year term.

This is not the first time Saudi Aramco has dealt with Data Gumbo. In August 2022, Saudi Aramco’s investment arm Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures made its fourth investment in Data Gumbo series C round where Data Gumbo raised $4million. The round was led by Saudi Aramco Ventures and Equinor, Norway’s energy operator.

As per the Data Gumbo blog post, “ Data Gumbo is proud to announce that on 8 February, 2023 we entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Saudi Aramco for Blockchain Collaboration.  The agreement has a 3 year term. We are honored by the opportunity to deepen our collaboration and look forward to several transformational projects in the coming years.”

The MOU was signed by Mohamed Marzouk, Saudi Arabia Country Manager and Saudi Aramco’s Senior Vice President, Digital and Information Technology Mr. Nabil Al-Nuaim in Riyadh.

As per the agreement the Areas of collaboration will include, accelerating digital transformation within the Oil & Gas Industry, exploring,  identifying and co-innovating blockchain use, improving operational efficiency and driving ROIU with Aramco, its customers and suppliers, providing blockchain training and finally identifying potential applications for managed blockchain services

Saudi Ground Services to implement Blockchain document solution across 28 airports in KSA

Saudi Ground Services to implement Blockchain document solution across 28 airports in KSA

During Saudi’s leading tech event LEAP 2023, being held between February 7th-9th in Riyadh KSA, IR4LAB, a Saudi-based company specialized in disruptive technologies such as Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence., and SGS (Saudi Ground Services), jointly announced the implementation of DocCerts Blockchain management solution for all training related digital documents and ground service equipment licenses issued by SGS at 28 Saudi Arabian airports where SGS provides ground services.

The Blockchain enabled solution will allow SGS to issue over 10,000 digital documents annually including licenses.

Document verification is one of the major challenges internationally. DocCerts is a solution developed to solve these issues by utilizing the power of Blockchain Technology.

Eng. Ayman Alghamdi, Vice President of Human Resources, at SGS, said: “We are very pleased to be announcing this groundbreaking solution at LEAP 2023. This is a historical moment and it’s the first initiative of its kind in the aviation industry. SGS delivers services to over 88 million passengers on 690,000 flights a year. Using DocCerts Blockchain solution at KSA airports we will be able verify documents and licenses easily, securely and efficiently improving customers’ experience. We are proud to be working towards achieving Saudi Arabia’s vision 2030 through these efforts.”

Airport ground services support smooth aircraft operations. Functions carried out through these services include delivery of passenger services, baggage handling, ramping, traffic control, load control and fleet solutions. According to Expert Market Research, global Airport Ground Market Size will grow at a CAGR of 10.40% in the Forecast Period of 2023-2028

Majd Jamal Alafifi, Co-founder & CEO of IR4LAB stated: “IR4LAB was Saudi Aramco’s first blockchain technology investment in the Kingdom given that we are committed to increasing the tech adoption in the country as well as building local capabilities. The agreement today with SGS is a clear example of the fruitful collaboration between local blockchain tech startups and leading local companies in the adoption of new technologies such as blockchain. We look forward to more agreements with other players in KSA as part of the aim to achieve Saudi’s 2030 vision and lead the way locally and globally.”

Mohamed EL KANDRI, Co-Founder & CTO IR4LAB added: “This is an important milestone for the aviation industry not only in KSA but worldwide. Our customizable solution DocCerts allows any organization to create documents for their recipients using digital signatures that are then issued on the blockchain. This enables all stakeholders to verify them securely in real-time making the ground service offering in KSA airports safer, quicker, and more transparent.” 

Alea Global Investment Group to have a session on Blockchain in trade Finance at KSA event

Alea Global Investment Group to have a session on Blockchain in trade Finance at KSA event

Alea Global Group will be holding their edition of Alea Sessions in Riyadh KSA. The one day gathering under the theme ‘The New Opportunities in Investment in the New Saudi Arabia’ will gather 100 of the GCC and MENA region’s top family offices. The event will include a session on Blockchain in Trade Finance.

Alea Global Group is a conglomerate single family business formed in 1998 in the State of Kuwait owned by a member of Al Duaij family. The one day event will discuss private debts and CLOs, trade finance, mezzanine debt, open banking, micro and macro banking environments, and Saudi Arabia’s unicorns.

The Alea Sessions is a series of irregular but responsive events held by Alea Group Group which are held when there is a need to address important topics that need to be addressed and which our followers would like to talk about. These events are usually shorter than their Family Office Summits, with a more focused programme. They may occur anywhere in the world, and also online.

Some of the highlighted speakers will include Essam Albakr Founder & CEO, Ejada Capital, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mark Mobius, Founding Partner, Mobius Capital Partners, Mirna Sleiman Founder & CEO, Fintech Galaxy, UAE, Omar AlShabaan Co-Founder & CEO, The Space, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Talal AlBakr Entrepreneur, CEO of SCCC, co-founded Embark Ventures, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Abdulaziz M. Alfakhri Board Director, CFO, CIO, Investments & Finance Executive, Angel Investor, Advisor, Mentor & Public Speaker, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Ajay Sunkara President & Co-Founder, Nala Robotics, USA , Ashar Nazim CEO, Aion Digital, Kingdom of Bahrain as well as Rabih I. Khoury Managing Partner & Chief Exit Officer Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and many others.

One of the sessions at the event will discuss the topic of how blockchain will shape trade finance. It will discuss how to overcome obstacles and find a competitive advantage in trade finance. Panelists will include Zineb Tamtaoui, Senior Executive Officer, Head Of Middle East Region, Chez BMCE BANK International Plc, and UAE Kevin Ramsamy, CFO, Barak Fund Management, Mauritius.

This is an interesting topic to be discussed at a family office event but not surprising given the latest stance taken by Saudi Arabian Finance Minister, Mohamed Al Jadaan in a TV interview with Bloomberg during the WEF 2023.

As per the interview Saudi Arabia is open to discussions about trade in currencies other than the US dollar. He states, “There are no issues with discussing how we settle our trade arrangements, whether it is in the US dollar, whether it is the euro, whether it is the Saudi riyal.”

“I don’t think we are waving away or ruling out any discussion that will help improve the trade around the world,” Al-Jadaan said.

Blockchain could just be one of the ways KSA is looking to improve trade around the world.

In November 2022, Saudi Arabian, Saudi British Bank (SABB) utilized the Contour Blockchain platform to enhance trade finance by improving letter of credit and guarantee procedures for enterprises and international businesses. SABB worked with local fintech entity Bwatech.

In addition Saudi Arabian Taajeer Group, the exclusive agent for MG cars in the KSA 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.

Could this be the culmination of Saudi government strategy, and some blockchain success stories. Jut follow the money and all will be revealed.

KSA NFT marketplace NuqtahNFT sponsors KSA LEAP event

KSA NFT marketplace NuqtahNFT sponsors KSA LEAP event

KSA Web 3 NFT Marketplace, NuqtahNFT sponsors LEAP tech convention that will be taking place in Riyadh Saudi Arabia from February 6th-9th 2023. 

LEAP is one of Saudi Arabia’s biggest annual tech events. A yearly 3-day tech convention held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It is the largest debut tech event as of 2022, with over 100,000 attendees worldwide. It is co-organized by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Informa Tech, and the Saudi Federation For Cybersecurity, Programming, and Drones.

Wajd Badawi, Head of Operations at NuqtahNFT, commented: “We are very excited about this partnership. Part of our mission is to enable individuals and institutions in Saudi with Web 3.0 technologies, and LEAP is a great platform for us to showcase the different use-cases through the NFTs activations we are providing.” 

This agreement is pushing the current boundaries of the Saudi NFTs scene with various activations powered by NuqtahNFT. Such as Digital Collectibles to be gifted to VIP attendees as Photography NFTs of a curated collection of photographs by Saudi photographers’ that showcases the beauty of Saudi Arabia’s landscape from all around Saudi. NuqtahNFT are also providing LEAP with variety of NFTs to be displayed at the exhibition. Additionally, NuqtahNFT developed a “Community Pass”, an exclusive collection with variety of utilities for LEAP’s community in which they can benefit from at LEAP 2024.

Badawi commented: “Our main objective from this partnership is to give a platform to the Saudi and regional Originators, educate global and local attendees about Saudi Arabia’s heritage and support tourism through art and technology and increase the adoption of Web 3.0 applications such as NFTs in the Kingdom. And for that, we want to express our thanks to LEAP for allowing us to be the first Saudi company to provide these solutions.”

Saudi Arabia launches its national wholesale CBDC project between local banks

Saudi Arabia launches its national wholesale CBDC project between local banks

The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) released a press release where it confirmed that the Central Bank is continuing to experiment on Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC).  SAMA is currently working on a project that focuses on domestic or national wholesale CBDC use case in collaboration with local banks and FinTech’s.

Experts explained to LaraontheBlock that this is a CBDC for local wholesale bank settlements. 

This project is part of SAMA’s ongoing research and experimentation on CBDC. SAMA is seeking to research and explore the economic impact, market readiness, and  potential robust and fast applications of a CBDC based payment solution. 

As per the news, SAMA seeks to review policy, legal and regulatory considerations before moving to the next phases of the CBDC journey to contribute to achieving the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.

H.E. Fahad Almubarak, Governor of SAMA stated “Local banks and payment companies will always be a cornerstone of this project and its implementation, we have engaged both local banks and FinTech’s, as well as other market players and third party consulting and technology providers, to gain a better understanding of CBDC’s functionality and to test various design options.” 

Noted as well, is that SAMA will continue to experiment on CBDC solution as an infrastructure enabler of innovation in financial services that has the potential to contribute to a more resilient payment ecosystem and accelerate digital transformation in the local financial sector.

SAMA stresses that although no decision has been made regarding the introduction of CBDC in the Kingdom, it continues to focus on exploring the benefits and potential risks of implementing CBDC. This will contribute to informed decision-making within SAMA and to CBDC explorations within the central banking community.

Prior to this announcement, SAMA had hired Mohsen Al Zahrani as Head of Virtual assets and CBDC program. This seems to be the first fruit of efforts made. 

In 2020  SAMA successfully conducted CBDC experiment “Project Aber” in 2019, an initiative in collaboration with the Central Bank of the UAE to examine whether distributed ledger technology could contribute to seamless cross-border payments.

During the 2023 World Economic Forum’s session on Financial Institutions innovating under pressure, the Saudi Arabian Minister of Finance Mohammed Al Jadaan states that while CBDCs have privacy issues they are fantastic tool in developing countries.

KSA Minister of Finance: CBDCs are a fantastic tool for developing countries

KSA Minister of Finance: CBDCs are a fantastic tool for developing countries

During the World Economic Forum’s session’ Financial Institutions innovating under pressure’ The Saudi Minister of Finance Mohammed al-Jadaan stated that while CBDCs have privacy issues they are a fantastic tool in developing countries.

While the panel discussed the risks that crypto and new technologies were posing especially given that crypto losses were over $1 trillion in 2022, most agreed that the regulation was a key element in mitigating these risks.

Saudi Finance Minister Al Jadaan also believes that the real risks of these innovations haven’t even been seen yet, and the one incident with the loss of 12 zeros has triggered a lot of thinking of what needs to be done.

He believes that Central Banks, traditional financial institutions and even innovators in Fintech need to discuss how to deal with Anti Money laundering issues, terrorism financing and entities that use these technologies to circumvent the regulatory framework.

When discussing CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currencies) Al Jadaan noted “Whether CBDCs and similar government sponsored currencies one will need to think about privacy.” He believes that the minute a government issues a CBDC or government sponsored cryptocurrency there is a compromise on privacy.

He states, “There is a lot of data to whoever is holding that currency.”

Yet he believes that CBDC is a fantastic tool in developing countries. He explains, “It can be used as a social safety net. CBDC can be used by people to exclusively buy milk, rice, oil but may not be allowed for other items.” He notes that while on one hand it is beneficial the other side of it is the risk of privacy invasion. ‘Bottom line no perfect solution.

Saudi Arabia piloted a CBDC with the UAE under the name ABER. The report on the final project was positive from a technical standpoint and the report highlighted the need for further use case trials.

In addition in July 2022, the Central Bank of KSA hired former Accenture Director Mr. Mohsen Alzahrani to lead the virtual asset and Central Bank Digital currency project at the bank.

It seems KSA is still studying the impact of CBDC implementation and is worried about the issue of privacy infringement.

Blockchain enabled payment solutions provider partners in KSA to offer ewallet payments to Hajj Pilgrims

Blockchain enabled payment solutions provider partners in KSA to offer ewallet payments to Hajj Pilgrims

KSA based Geidea, a leading fintech company in Saudi Arabia and Blockchain based payments solutions, WadzPay Middle East Technology (affiliate of WadzPay Worldwide) have forged a new strategic partnership to power the transformation of pilgrimage payments.

Geidea is utilizing the issuance of an e-money wallet, specifically for Hajj and Umrah, to be used in over one million point-of-sale (POS) terminals deployed across multiple merchants throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

WadzPay blockchain-based payment solutions allow Hajj and Umrah pilgrims to set up their own e-Money wallets on their mobile devices to be used for their expenses. Once the wallet is loaded, the pilgrim is ready to spend in Saudi Arabia with lower transaction fees and a user-friendly refund process.


According to Mastercard’s latest Global Destination Cities Index, Mecca attracted $20 billion in tourist dollars in 2018, second only to Dubai. The number of pilgrims is expected to increase significantly in the coming years, with the Kingdom has set a goal to host 30 million pilgrims by 2030,  in line with Saudi Vision 2030.

This year, the hajj rituals were performed by at least one million pilgrims worldwide after two years of restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

WadzPay partnered with Algorand, a high-performance, next-generation ISO 20022 and Sharia-compliant blockchain with a roadmap to 46,000 transactions per second to deliver industry-leading stability and near-instant finality to its clients.

WadzPay Founder and Group CEO Anish Jain said, “I am delighted to team up with Geidea to deliver the absolute best in payments experience for pilgrims. Saudi Arabia is home to the annual Hajj and Umrah, about one million people from nearly two hundred countries perform these pilgrimages; with Geidea merchant and POS networks, WadzPay is also enabling merchants to benefit from faster, secure and seamless payments”.

Renier Lemmens, CEO at Geidea said, “The pilgrim market is an incredibly important part of the Saudi economy, which is why we are thrilled to partner with WadzPay in a move that will unlock vast SME business success for merchants across the Kingdom. The integration of an e-wallet into over a million merchant POS systems will also make transactions faster and safer for the millions of pilgrims that visit Hajj and Umrah every year – and we’re delighted to be able to help them on their way.”

Sailesh Malhotra, GM, GCC at Geidea, said: “This partnership enables us to offer our merchants and pilgrims a best-in-class experience whenever they make payments. The delivery of a swift transaction process for merchants – and a seamless payment experience for pilgrims – are critical drivers for this partnership goal.”

WadzPay, which was awarded Top 10 Most Promising Payment and Merchant Service Providers by SiliconIndia Magazine 2021, is a leading blockchain payment technology, solution and service provider. It operates in and serves partners and clients across APAC, MENA, Africa and the United States.

Geidea is a leading fintech and fully licensed payment service provider offering digital banking technologies, smart payment terminals and business management solutions for both financial institutions and small businesses in retail and digital commerce across the region.

Saudi Arabia launches Blockchain SMS tracking system to decrease fraud

Saudi Arabia launches Blockchain SMS tracking system to decrease fraud

Saudi Arabia’s Information and Communication technology Commission has launched a blockchain enabled identity tracking management system for Bulk SMS messages in an effort to decrease fraud and enhance trust in Bulk messaging service offerings.

The CITC utilized blockchain technology in both the governance and management of the system. The solution was launched during the Digital Technology Forum 2022 in KSA.

CITC explained that this system will track 34,000 trusted SMS service providers  as well as decrease the operational cost for sending bulk SMS by these service providers by 66 percent. The blockchain enabled system will also  decrease the time needed to process requests by 60 percent. In addition 20,000 governmental and private sector entities will benefit from this system.

The Blockchain enabled digital tracking management system will serve more than 46 million people as well as 25 local SMS service providers. The innovative solution aims to protect users and instill trust in service providers.

Interestingly the KSA Digital technology Forum dedicated a whole day on blockchain technology. The panel discussions included topics such as harnessing the Power of Blockchain for Digital Government with speakers from IBM, CasperLabs, and Oracle.

The forum also saw the participation of blockchain entities from the region including Avanza Innovations based out of UAE which showcased its enterprise blockchain, metaverse and Web3.0 success stories to KSA government and private sector.

Another Blockchain entity IR4ILab based out of KSA also participated at the Forum.

In addition Seamless KSA which will be held during first week of November 2022 will also host blockchain solution providers including DT One.

Not only that but in a press release from Seamless, it states that there will be discussions led by Mohsen Al Zahrani, head of virtual assets and CBDC initiative at Saudi Central Bank, given the accommodating stance that KSA is showing towards blockchain and cryptocurrency solutions.

So has Saudi started its blockchain, and crypto journey, it seems so!