Binance appoints female General Manager for Dubai operation

Binance appoints female General Manager for Dubai operation

Binance, crypto exchange in the UAE has appointed a female General Manager for its Dubai operation. Stephanie Emile who assumed the role in August 2024 has an extensive background in the financial sector, including BNP Paribas, Barclays Capital and others.

According to the press release she was instrumental in Binance’s regulatory compliance and in securing the VASP license from Dubai’s virtual asset regulator VARA.

Within the past two years, Emile has contributed in cementing Binance’s reputation as a leader in compliance and innovation. The VASP license, secured in June, has expanded Binance’s service offerings to include margin, futures, and options trading for qualified investors and users, as well as lending, borrowing, and investment products.

Emile’s strategic priorities will include institutional adoption, enhancing regulatory compliance, and promoting educational initiatives, such as Binance Academy. Her vision ensures that current users have access to a wider spectrum of services while
lowering the barriers for new virtual assets users and enthusiasts.


“I am honored to step into this new role at such a pivotal time for Binance. As we navigate the ever-evolving regulatory landscape, I look forward to leading our team of experts in driving innovation, exploring new growth opportunities, and expanding our
offering in Dubai” said Stephanie Emile, General Manager, Binance Dubai.


Stephanie’s appointment underscores her exceptional ability to navigate complex challenges and drive transformation, positioning her as a key player in the future of Binance’s digital finance endeavors. Under her guidance, the company is poised to redefine the future of virtual assets and set new benchmarks for excellence in the industry.

Soter a digital asset insurer, a portfolio company of UAE Further Ventures receives initial regulatory approval from BMA

Soter a digital asset insurer, a portfolio company of UAE Further Ventures receives initial regulatory approval from BMA

A portfolio company of Abu Dhabi based Further Ventures, Soter Insure, a provider of insurance products tailored to the digital asset economy, whose CEO was the former CEO of VARA Dubai ( Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority), has received initial approval from the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA), to offer a range of insurance solutions designed specifically for institutions operating in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space.

As per the press release, the approval marks a significant milestone for Soter, enabling the company to address the evolving risk management needs of the digital asset sector.‍

“This regulatory approval is a testament to the vision we share with our partners and the growing need for tailored risk management solutions in the digital asset space,” said Henson Orser, CEO of Soter Insure. “With the rise of institutional adoption of blockchain technology, our products provide a critical layer of security for asset managers, funds, and validators. We are proud to offer coverage that aligns with the assets themselves—whether it’s Bitcoin, Ethereum, or other native currencies—allowing policyholders to be indemnified in the very currency they are seeking to protect.”

Further Ventures noted on LinkedIN, “Our portfolio company Soter Insure has just announced receiving the initial approval from the Bermuda Monetary Authority. Great start for the project as we plan to share more updates and valuable content soon!”

Further Ventures is a venture builder and investment firm based in Abu Dhabi. It supports innovative startups such as fintech, VASPs which include virtual asset payments products, blockchain based asset custody and security solutions, and others. ‍

Soter has offices in Abu Dhabi Global Market Square, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Previously UAE headquartered Fuze, a digital assets infrastructure provider, raised a seed round of $14mn, the largest Seed investment in a digital assets startup in the history of the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) led by Abu Dhabi-based Further Ventures, along with participation by US-based Liberty City Ventures.

Soter’s product suite includes Directors & Officers (D&O) coverage, Asset Loss policies, and a unique Slashing insurance product that protects validators in Proof of Stake networks. Notably, all policies are denominated in the native digital currency being insured. For instance, Ethereum Validator Slashing losses are paid out in Ether, while Bitcoin asset loss policies are settled in Bitcoin—a groundbreaking approach that ensures alignment between the asset at risk and the insurance coverage.

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CoinMENA crypto trading platform makes it easier to trade crypto assets with Mesh

CoinMENA crypto trading platform makes it easier to trade crypto assets with Mesh

CoinMENA, the crypto asset trading platform in MENA, has now made it easier to trade crypto assets, without the hassle of entering long crypto addresses, QR codes or seed phrases, with its recent partnership with Mesh, the connectivity layer for crypto.

As per the press release, the collaboration aims to enhance digital asset transfer services by allowing CoinMENA’s trusted platform to be embedded into Mesh’s product suite, setting new standards for secure and user-friendly crypto services in the region.

With this new partnership, Mesh’s API-based solutions will enhance the overall experience for CoinMENA users using other platforms, with crypto transactions being not only seamless but also more secure. 

With the crypto trade platform joining Mesh’s extensive network of integrations, managing crypto across platforms becomes significantly easier for its users. The integration enables CoinMENA users to access their accounts directly from other platforms without the hassle of long crypto addresses, QR codes, and seed phrases.

“As the leading crypto trading platform in the region, we are thrilled to team up with CoinMENA to help transform the user experience for crypto users in the Middle East,” said Bam Azizi, CEO and Co-Founder of Mesh. “Partnerships like this are essential to our goal of onboarding the next billion users into crypto and we are grateful to partner with companies like CoinMENA who share our vision of creating a more connected and secure financial ecosystem.”

“CoinMENA was established to meet the demand for a trustworthy platform where investors can seamlessly transition between fiat and crypto,” said CoinMENA Co-Founders Talal Tabbaa and Dina Sam’an. “The partnership aligns perfectly with our user’s needs, offering an additional method to fund their crypto wallets and reinforcing our commitment to being the most efficient gateway for MENA investors to access the crypto market.”

This announcement follows a previous one where CoinMENA expanded the range of crypto assets available on its platform through its partnership with Bitpanda Technology Solutions, the leading digital assets infrastructure provider as a liquidity provider. The collaboration will enhance trade efficiency on the platform as well.

Tokenization platform Ctrl Alt sets up office in UAE after partnering with Emirates NBD

Tokenization platform Ctrl Alt sets up office in UAE after partnering with Emirates NBD

Ctrl Alt, a leading financial engineering and tokenization platform that utilizes blockchain technology, with offices in the UK and Ireland, has set up its office in Dubai UAE in DMCC ( Dubai Multi Commodities Center), after partnering with Emirates NBD. It intends to serve Dubai initially as it plans expansion into MENA region. ‍

Launched in 2022 by Matt Ong (formerly of Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse) to improve access to different assets through the power of tokenization, Ctrl Alt has since become one of the leaders in the tokenization space.

The company will initially focus on Dubai already partnering with Emirates NBD.

‍As per the press release, this expansion is driven by Dubai’s momentum and focus to accelerate the integration of tokenized assets across a variety of use cases and clients. Having already achieved significant success in the UK and Europe with $150m of assets under management, Ctrl Alt aims to replicate and expand upon this in the UAE.‍

The region will be led by Robert Farquhar, previously Senior Executive Officer at Prypco, a leading real estate and fractional real estate provider. Ctrl Alt has already tokenized a residential house in the UK and will look to further innovation of the real estate industry and other asset classes in Dubai and beyond. ‍

Founder and CEO, Matt Ong stated, “‍ “The momentum in Dubai has been remarkable, making it a natural choice for our third office. Dubai is going to be at the forefront of tokenization and I’m thrilled for Ctrl Alt to be part of that journey. With Robert’s experience and his proven track record in the region, we look forward to deepening our presence and working more closely with our clients here.”
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Robert Farquhar added, ‍ “Joining and launching Ctrl Alt in Dubai is an incredible opportunity. Ctrl Alt has already paved the way for tokenizing real-world assets in the UK and Europe. Their expertise in financial engineering, combined with cutting-edge technology, is exactly what Dubai needs to further its ambitions as a leader in this space.”
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This comes at the heels of an announcement by Xalts, a UAE based Fintech firm specializing in tokenization, collaboration with Avalanche to bring more enterprise-grade real world asset tokenization solutions for institutions.

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UAE Fintech firm Xalts partners with Avalanche for tokenization of RWAs

UAE Fintech firm Xalts partners with Avalanche for tokenization of RWAs

Xalts, a UAE based Fintech firm specializing in tokenization, has announced its collaboration with Avalanche to bring more enterprise-grade real world asset tokenization solutions for institutions. Xalts has also recently joined the Qatar Financial Center’s digital assets lab for tokenizing real world assets.

As per the press release, this will provide out-of-the-box solutions to enable financial services, governments, and other enterprise developers looking to build digital asset platforms for implementing blockchain, tokenization, and smart contract applications for different use cases such as the tokenization of funds, securities, commodities and trade finance assets, digital currencies, and CDBCs.

Xalts works with financial services and businesses to provide connectivity by leveraging a modern technology stack, including APIs, Blockchains, and Orchestration layers. Its product suite includes solutions such as the RWA Cloud platform, which enables large institutions such as financial services and governments to quickly build complex solutions on blockchains.

RWA Cloud addresses challenges enterprises and regulators face while implementing blockchain, such as retaining complex rules, workflows, processes, and user compliances mandated by internal or regulatory governance.

With this collaboration, financial institutions can deploy custom blockchain networks that meet specific financial requirements and comply with local regulations using Avalanche’s L1 technology, orchestrate and automate their on-chain processes, tokenize digital assets and liabilities on the blockchain via smart workflows using Xalts’ RWA Cloud.

“Our collaboration with Xalts enables us to jointly offer RWA tokenization technology infrastructure and solutions to financial services institutions, including banks, asset managers, and fintechs alike”, said Morgan Krupetsky, Head of Institutions & Capital Markets at Ava Labs.

Xalts recently joined the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) Authority Digital Assets Lab to test and commercialize use cases in real-world asset tokenization.

“We are very excited to partner with Avalanche. This will make the development of blockchain and smart contract solutions much more accessible and accelerate enterprise use cases”, said Ashutosh Goel, Chief Executive Officer, Xalts.

“We have an exciting roadmap ahead of us with Xalts as we jointly enable financial institutions across markets in their RWA tokenization journey!”, said Devika Mittal, Regional Head at Ava Labs.

OKX Middle East publishes new virtual asset standards for listing on its crypto exchange

OKX Middle East publishes new virtual asset standards for listing on its crypto exchange

UAE based OKX crypto exchange clarifies its new virtual asset standards prior to them being listed on its Middle East exchange as per Dubai’s Virtual Asset regulatory authority requirements.

OKX Middle East published the set of factors it will be utilizing when it evaluates virtual assets before listing them on its exchange.

According to the UAE based crypto exchange the standards have been prepared in accordance with Rule VIII.A.1 of the VARA market conduct rulebook, and are also available on OKX’s website in accordance with Rule VIII.A.3 of the VARA Market conduct rulebook.

OKX Middle East will asset the market metrics of virtual assets market capitalization, fully diluted value and liquidity and whether metrics have trended downwards over time.

It will also review the design system, such as features, use cases both intended and unintended by the issuer or relevant developers.

In terms of compliance, the crypto exchange will evaluate the virtual asset compliance features, regulations, rules or directives as well as AML/CFT sanctions, securities, and intellectual property.

It will also review how regulators are treating this virtual asset whether by VARA or other authorities outside of Dubai, including regulatory approvals

It will also review whether the virtual asset is prohibited by VARA or other regulators in or outside of the UAE.

OKX even goes as far as to asset the security and immutability of the DLT protocol on which the virtual asset is built.

Furthermore, OKX will evaluate whether the Virtual Asset may be susceptible to price manipulation for any reason and relevant mitigations that will be implemented by OKX. It will also investigate the background of issuer and whether it has been subject to any investigations or claims in relation to fraud or deceit.

OKX Middle East will finally monitor the terms and conditions of the Virtual Asset correlate with any physical market to ensure such terms and conditions conform to standards and practices in that physical market (if applicable).

OKX has been expanding its regulated operations in MENA with both a license from the Dubai UAE VARA as well as one in Turkey.

UAE Cypher Capital invests in AI and Blockchain SxT $20 million series A round

UAE Cypher Capital invests in AI and Blockchain SxT $20 million series A round

UAE based Cypher Capital has invested in AI and Blockchain startup Space and Time (SxT) as part of the $20 million Series A funding round.

SxT is a verifiable compute layer designed to boost the mainstream adoption of DeFi protocols and smart contracts by combining the power of AI and blockchain.

Space and Time (SxT) Labs raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Framework Ventures. CypherCapital was among several ventures capital firms that included Lightspeed Faction, Arrington Capital, and Hivemind Capital, Microsoft’s M12 Ventures, DCG, F-Prime Capital, OKX ventures, Circle Ventures and Alumni Ventures.

Vineet Budki, Managing Partner, Cypher Capital noted on Linkedin, “ Cypher Capital LLC is excited to be part of the $20M Series A funding round for the Space and Time (SxT) network, a groundbreaking project at this intersection. Among SxT innovations is a comprehensive blockchain indexing system that supports Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin (BTC), and Polygon (MATIC) networks. The network also features a robust data warehouse that integrates and analyses both blockchain and off-chain data using SQL-based tools, along with the proof of SQL for scalable, trustless data processing.”

Other standout products include the hashtag#Space and hashtag#Time DB, API Gateway & streaming, Extreme Workloads (HTAP), and a dashboard powered by OpenAI.

To date SxT Labs has secure $50 million in funding to accelerate engineering and product development.

SxT Labs has reportedly spent the last two years building its proof-of-SQL, a zero-knowledge (ZK) circuit that provides smart contract developers and companies with the capability to verify data integrity. In decentralized finance (DeFi), for instance, the solution could be used to verify the credibility of borrowers based on real-time data or to track the performance of assets. 

The startup’s data warehouse allows both indexed blockchain data and centralized databases to be analyzed using SQL queries, thus providing a way to verify the integrity of data and operations on and offchain.

Recently Cypher Capital also participated in investment in Echelon decentralized lending platform.

UAE Capstone Technology raises $5.4 million dollars for Gaya blockchain project

UAE Capstone Technology raises $5.4 million dollars for Gaya blockchain project

UAE Blockchain and AI technology entity, Capstone Technology, has raised $5.4 million in its first funding round, to develop the “GAYA” blockchain project.

The “GAYA” project aims to build a blockchain system and an integrated first network to support entrepreneurial projects in several sectors, including entertainment, gaming industry, artificial intelligence, in addition to environmental, social responsibility and governance standards; in order to contribute to providing innovative solutions that support the sustainable digital economy.

“The new project represents a strategic step towards an entrepreneurial environment based on using the latest technology to empower a new generation of entrepreneurs and tap new horizons for sustainable growth,” confirmed Abdullah Al-Mousa Al-Maksour, CEO of Capstone Technology Group.
He pointed out that to this end, the company works to own and manage technological assets and develop software with a special focus on Web 3 and mobile applications through effective partnerships, noting that his company will employ the new investments to enhance its presence in the UAE and the Arab region, improve its platform and provide new benefits to customers.

Al-Maksour explained that the project aims to continue efforts to adopt blockchain technology among entrepreneurs, in line with the UAE government’s vision to enhance the digital economy by supporting innovation and entrepreneurial projects to continue accelerating the pace of growth in this vital sector.

The UAE is one of the fastest growing countries in the fields of artificial intelligence and blockchain technology , as artificial intelligence technologies are expected to contribute about 14% of the gross domestic product by 2030.

UAE ShipFinex partners with Tokeny to ensure regulatory compliance

UAE ShipFinex partners with Tokeny to ensure regulatory compliance

UAE based ShipFinex, tokenization platform for maritime finance, has announced a strategic partnership with Tokeny, the leading onchain finance operating system specializing in tokenized securities.

As per the announcement, the collaboration aims to transform the tokenization and management of maritime assets, introducing a new era of transparency, security, and compliance in the multi-billion-dollar maritime sector.

ShipFinex will leverage Tokeny’s state-of-the-art technology to ensure that all tokenized maritime assets on its platform adhere to the highest standards of regulatory compliance and security. This integration will utilize the ERC-3643 standard, bolstering investor confidence and setting a new benchmark for digital finance in the maritime industry.

ShipFinex and Tokeny will aim to offer a secure, transparent, and regulated marketplace that opens maritime investments to a broader range of global investors.

The announcement follows ShipFinex’s recent milestone of receiving initial approval from the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) in the UAE.

This partnership with Tokeny further underscores ShipFinex’s commitment to adopting world-class solutions to enhance the security and compliance of its platform. By integrating Tokeny’s robust infrastructure, ShipFinex is well-positioned to lead the digital transformation of maritime finance.

R3 DLT instrumental in UAE’s RAKBANK CBDC cross border transaction

R3 DLT instrumental in UAE’s RAKBANK CBDC cross border transaction

R3 announced on LinkedIn that it was thrilled about the success of UAE RAKBANK  in their first cross border CBDC transaction using mBridge in which R3’s issuance layer technology solution played an instrumental role.

David E Rutter, CEO of R3 said: “The first cross-border CBDC transaction by a UAE local bank, RAKBANK, is a groundbreaking development for the UAE, and the region more broadly.

He added, “R3’s issuance layer technology and CBDC integration solutions have been instrumental in supporting RAKBANK to achieve this exciting milestone in production. R3’s ambition is to continue to deliver interoperable distributed ledger solutions, using Corda, our open, permissioned tokenization platform to the UAE and beyond.”

Rutter adds that R3 is committed to working with UAE domestic banks like R3 to build their digital ecosystem.

The National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah (“RAKBANK”) recently became one of the first banks in the United Arab Emirates to execute an international remittance using mbridge CBDC. The Bank utilized China’s digital Yuan (eCNY) in exchange for the Digital Dirham, the UAE’s CBDC.

Vikas Suri, Co-Head of Wholesale Banking Group at RAKBANK, added, “The successful transfer of eCNY to our correspondent in China is a game-changer in several respects. It’s one of the first UAE-led foreign currency transfers executed in local currencies without involving a third currency to China and without using conventional payment rails. This is a gamechanger that paves the way for instant blockchain based CBDC exchanges with payment versus payment, fundamentally altering how we approach international payments. Our next steps will focus on supporting the China and UAE business corridor for our clients, by leveraging mBridge to reduce costs and improve the speed of remittances.”

In an IMF blog, the International Monetary Fund noted that almost two-thirds of countries in the Middle East and Central Asia are exploring adopting a central bank digital currency with Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and UAE in the more advanced proof of concept stages. The countries in MENA and Central Asia are studying CBDCs as a way to promote financial inclusion and improve the efficiency of cross-border payments.

The IMF Blog noted however that CBDCs require careful consideration, with each weighing their own unique set of circumstances.

Many of the 19 countries currently exploring a CBDC are at the research stage. Bahrain, Georgia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates have moved to the more advanced “proof-of-concept” stage. Kazakhstan is the most advanced after two pilot programs for the digital tenge.