Blockchain enabled School Passport for students now a reality in UAE

Blockchain enabled School Passport for students now a reality in UAE

UAE Based Repton Family of Schools has partnered with Blockchain entity EduChain to create the region’s first K-12 blockchain-secured multimedia digital portfolio, Repton Passport. Students and alumni from the three Repton schools in the UAE – Repton Dubai, Repton Al Barsha and Repton Abu Dhabi will be able to safely receive, manage and share their academic and extra-curricular accomplishments via unique links, multiple platforms and social media.

The Repton Passport aims to archive every Reptonian’s school journey with a centralized collection of academic records, including transcripts, certifications, class pictures, awards and extra-curricular portfolios. In addition to the academic documents, Repton Passport creates a digital memory of student journeys and life lessons learnt. Students and alumni will be able to look back at their learning journey with pictures of proud moments, memorable experiences, meaningful friendships and personal videos from their teachers who nurtured and inspired them over the years.

The 2022 graduating IB2, IGCSE, and Year 6 cohorts from the Repton Family of Schools in the UAE, will receive their personalized Repton Passports at the end of the academic year, with their learning journeys at Repton carefully catalogued.

David Cook, Chief Education Officer for the Repton Family of Schools in the UAE and Headmaster of Repton School Dubai comments, “We are excited to gift Reptonians a permanent digital record of their unique life story while with Repton Family of Schools, providing them with the opportunity to revisit their very own digital time-capsule as young adults at Repton. The Repton Passport is a collection of meaningful journeys, encounters and experiences that shaped Reptonians’ characters and will provide them the tools to access their future success.  As we celebrate our 15th year anniversary at Repton Dubai, we are proud to have several graduating students who have stayed with us since they joined at 3 years old.   We are very pleased to work with EduChain Inc. to provide our students with a seamless digital solution that they can use Post-16 when applying to universities and prospective career opportunities.”

EduChain Inc. applications operate on top of an institutional blockchain network to ensure the security and verifiability of all issued records. EduChain Inc. is the trusted blockchain provider for top universities in the country such as Zayed University, Khalifa University and University of Sharjah, and has received various awards and recognition from Mubadala, CNN, Dubai Future Foundation and more. 

Gary Liang, Director of Educhain Inc. says: “We are proud to work with the Repton Family of Schools in the UAE to offer students a secure one-stop solution for their academic certifications. Our blockchain network is built on Hyperledger Fabric as a tamper-proof verification layer to independently store and verify the origin and legitimacy of data and records. With the Repton Passport, students can look back on their academic journey at Repton and trust that their documents will be safely secured.”

Niftify™, an easy-to-use and compliance-first NFT platform, is partnering with the Repton Family of Schools in the UAE to mint the animated Non-Fungible Token (NFT). Students receiving their Repton Passports by Term 3 this year will also receive their unique NFTs.

Turkish Har Group discusses metaverse with UAE Minister of Foreign Trade

Turkish Har Group discusses metaverse with UAE Minister of Foreign Trade

As a result of the recently launched Dubai’s metaverse strategy which aims to increase the contribution of the metaverse sector to Dubai’s economy to US$4 billion by 2030 and increase its contribution to Dubai’s GDP to 1 percent, regional companies in the MENA region, specifically Turkey are flocking towards the country. Burak Soylu, CEO of Har Group, noted in a recent tweet on the productive meeting he and his team had with UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Dr. Thani Bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi. 

He stated, “We had a productive meeting with Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, about the UAE’s work in the metaverse and web 3.0.”

Turkish based Har Group incorporates under its wings five companies in the sector of technology, tourism, energy and agriculture and comprises over 500 employees.

One of its companies is Roof Stacks, a software company that specializes in tourism systems, the metaverse, augmented reality, game development and financial technology. As per their website they are the flagship company of Har Group. Under the entity are sub units that include Roof Tickets and Roof Moneys.

Har Groups also holds an entity called Roof XR that designs GoArt Metaverse, built on AR augmented reality technology with offices in both the USA and Turkey.  Roof Moneys is the designer of the Goarc token used on the GoArt Metaverse platform. In the fictional universe of GoArt, these coins, where users can shop and interact with other avatars using Goarc tokens with their own avatars, are produced based on RoofPay and Ethereum.

As per Har Group website, “GoArt is one of our most important investments, which we believe will be an important factor in the digital future of Turkey and the world in the near term.”

It seems that the UAE will witness more interest and meetings from metaverse companies across the MENA region and globally. 

IBM’s TradeLens transacts first electronic bill of Ladings in UAE

IBM’s TradeLens transacts first electronic bill of Ladings in UAE

TradeLens, a Blockchain enable supply chain platform has just issued the first bills of lading in UAE for both Safelin Freight and Fortuna in DMCC ( Dubai Multi Commodities Center)

Safeline Freight and Fortuna DMCC  through TradeLens have accessed  digital issuance, transfer, and surrender of original bills of lading using blockchain technology. Combined, the two companies move more than 7,500 containers annually in and out of the UAE.

TradeLens was jointly developed by Maersk and IBM. TradeLens allows an original bill of lading to be digitally issued directly from a carrier and moved electronically through its journey with all the stakeholders. This reduces the hassles of sending physical papers from one stakeholder to the other through a courier process, eliminates the costly possibility of documents getting lost or forged, and removes inefficiencies from manual processes.

Mr. Ahmed Beyi, CEO Safeline Freight, stated, “I was amazed at how easy and fast I can control all my bill of ladings through the TradeLens eBL. Since this is a cloud-based solution, all my consignments and documents are available to my team and me on any device anywhere in the world.” He added, “With the eBL now being accepted by major ocean carriers, ports, customs and a list that keeps growing, life has become easier for freight forwarders and our customers.”

The eBL technology developed by TradeLens provides a solution available to all shippers regardless of size or use case. The elimination of physical hand-off of documentation accelerated during the pandemic, and the modernization of supply chain infrastructure with the use of technology became even more critical. 

The TradeLens ecosystem consists of more than 1000 organizations, including major ocean carriers representing over two-thirds of the global market, and integrated with leading trade finance banks operating in multiple countries with a shared vision to help modernize the trade finance industry. The platform has already tracked more than 55 million container shipments, 4.7 billion events, and more than 25 million published documents.

Varun Kulshreshtha, Regional Head of TradeLens, Maersk West & Central Asia, said, “TradeLens eBL is our latest addition to our portfolio of products in the UAE which also include visibility and document collaboration making the TradeLens platform a very compelling proposition for any company’s journey to digitize the supply chain. The eBL has proven to be very popular with customers and in a few short years should become the default way of managing shipments in our region.”

Iraqi American Beauty Entrepreneur discusses investing in NFTs and Women

Iraqi American Beauty Entrepreneur discusses investing in NFTs and Women

When Huda Kattan, an Iraqi American beauty Blogger launched her blog in 2010, she didn’t imagine that in 2022, she would head one of the fastest growing beauty brands in the world with over 50 million followers on Instagram and a net worth of 500 million USD.

Her success actually started in Dubai UAE, when Huda and her sisters Mona and Alya created a collection of false eyelashes under the Huda Beauty brand name which later launched at Sephora in Dubai Mall.

Recently Huda was invited to speak at Gary Vaynerchuk’s Web3.o and NFT conference Veecon, at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.  

Only a handful  of women were present at the event, including Mila Kunis and Eva Longoria, Kattan spoke on her recent investments into NFTs (Non Fungible Tokens) and how few women are involved in the crypto space.

Kattan currently owns hundreds of NFTs, including those from the project  World of Women NFT. As per their website, WoW’s vision is to build an inclusive web3 through its collection and community. According to research published in Nov. 2021, female artists accounted for just 5% of all NFT art sales in the prior 21 months. WoW is on a mission to change this. Kattan’s investment into digital art NFTs stems from her passion and is not based on pure financial gain.

In her interview with Yahoo Finance, Katan who discussed investing in NFTs states, “Passion is essential you with passion you can be patient when the market goes up and down. I know not everybody feels that way, but I do believe that when you have passion you bring so much more to the NFT community, more than just the value of buying NFTs, the community part is so important.”

“As much money as I’ve made, I’ve lost a lot of money,” Kattan said about her new investments. “And it’s very easy to be like, ‘Oh my god buy this lipstick. There’s no real downfall if you don’t like it, you lost $20. If you invest in an NFT project, you become part of the community, you invest so much time. And if that doesn’t go well, that’s your wealth that is your livelihood.”

The Veecon event had a ratio of 50 to 1 in terms of men versus women. Huda hopes that will change in the future with the help of NFT communities. She states, “The NFT space reminds me of the beauty space in the beginning. Things are shifting and changing.”

At the moment only 2 percent of VC money goes to women. Women still represent fewer than 15 percent of the crypto space.  “I am a strong woman, I’m a very confident woman, I have a lot of personality and am rarely uncomfortable in any situation and I am intimidated with that space so I can’t imagine how other women must feel,” she said. “Getting more women here needs to be a very conscious effort.”

Kattan’s presence in the NFT domain comes at a time in the MENA when institutions such UAE Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) has partnered with Web3 identity platform and NFT domain provider Unstoppable Domains to provide free crypto domains to all women residing in Abu Dhabi. The giveaway aims to provide opportunities for more women to learn about and ultimately participate in Web3, a space where only 5% to 7% of all cryptocurrency users are women and just 12% work in blockchain.

The initiative was announced during a delegation visit to Abu Dhabi by the ‘Women of Web3′, a powerhouse group of disruptive female tech entrepreneurs from the United States exploring the emirate as a gateway for global expansion.

Eng. Abdulla Abdul Aziz Al Shamsi, Acting Director General of ADIO, said: “Abu Dhabi is ensuring the future of Web3 is built around powerful infrastructures that appeal to all members of the community. By supporting initiatives that invite and uplift women, we can champion diversity early in the Web3 era. The partnership with Unstoppable Domains to provide frees crypto domains to all women in Abu Dhabi and embodies the emirate’s promise of inclusion, while creating opportunities for private sector participation in a fast-growing space.”

Sandy Carter, SVP of Unstoppable Domains and Founder of Unstoppable Women of Web3, stated: “It’s great to see Abu Dhabi leading the mission to bring Web3 opportunities to women in the Middle East. It has been an honor to be a part of the ‘Women of Web3’ delegation, and I am grateful to Access Abu Dhabi and ADIO for providing such an immersive look into Abu Dhabi’s business and technology ecosystem.”

Sarah Omolewu, Managing Partner of Maven Global Access and founder of Access Abu Dhabi, said, “In a market of expats from more than 200 countries, this initiative could potentially impact the lives of generations of women around the world.” She added, “This is the legacy-building impact I envisioned for the Access Abu Dhabi program. While the financial gap between male and female founders still exists, the game is changing, and more women recognize the value of emerging technologies in growing and funding their businesses.”

Roland Berger Crypto Oasis partnership to propel the biggest Blockchain and crypto projects in MENA

Roland Berger Crypto Oasis partnership to propel the biggest Blockchain and crypto projects in MENA

It is big news when a leading global strategy and management consultancy firm like Roland Berger partners with UAE Crypto Oasis, a Middle East focused Blockchain Ecosystem supported by initiators of Crypto Valley Switzerland.

As per the announcement, Roland Berger will bring forward its talents and resources to propel the Blockchain ecosystem to new heights in the MENA region and globally. Roland Berger was one of the first to herald in a crypto economy advisory practice out of the UAE.

The partnership comes at a time when UAE Crypto Oasis is now targeting 1500 Blockchain crypto entities to enter the UAE after UAE reached the target of 1000 blockchain and crypto entities before the end of 2022.

Roland Berger has been working with several clients in the region. They are strategic advisors to the biggest blockchain crypto projects in the region including the largest Bitcoin mining facility in MENA as well as the set-up of a tokenized green asset exchange.

The combination of both Crypto Oasis disruptive ecosystem and Roland Berger’s strong association with governments and corporates and commercial and technical knowhow is explosive.

Pierre Samaties, one of the partners in charge of leading the global Crypto Economy team for Roland Berger, stated: “Crypto Oasis has a strong ecosystem network of organizations that are breakthrough innovators and are leapfrogging ahead. We have witnessed their explosive growth in the past few months. As we assist companies in their journey towards the crypto economy, it is vital to have access to the latest innovation and talent in this fast moving space”. “We believe that with Crypto Oasis’ core values of infrastructure, talent, and capital, we can integrate alliances in their unique Ecosystem and transform the crypto economy landscape” added Feroz Sanaulla, Partner and global Co-head of the Crypto Economy team.

“We are delighted to welcome Roland Berger as our newest global strategic partner”, commented Ralf Glabischnig, Founder of Crypto Oasis. “Our Ecosystem members will have access to their world-class management consultancy that will support them as they embrace the opportunities to transform their business and utilize Blockchain solutions. With Roland Berger’s strong presence among governments and corporations, we expect this partnership to help us develop meaningful connections with them. As they step further into the Blockchain economy we will be working together to release thought leadership reports to further educate and inform the market of this ever growing and evolving ecosystem”.

Central African President sets up Bitcoin mining farm in UAE

Central African President sets up Bitcoin mining farm in UAE

News spread in May 2022 that Central African President Faustin Archange Touadera was travelling to the UAE to oversee the launch the crypto mining company. This came after Central Africa affirmed Bitcoin as a legal tender in the country.

The website African Intelligence was the news platform that mentioned the President’s visit to UAE on May 12th 2022. LeMonde News platform stated that due to lack of infrastructure in Central African state, the mining company for Bitcoin would be located in Dubai.  Nothing else was reported on this, and no official comments were made on this by UAE officials. 

This comes at a time when VARA (Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority) in Dubai UAE, stated that it would be regulating crypto mining operations. Already a sovereign wealth fund in Abu Dhabi is building one of the world’s biggest crypto mining farms with strategic advisors, Roland Berger. 

In addition US Crusoe Energy, which mines Bitcoin using wasted natural gas expanded into the Middle East specifically Oman and UAE after it received investments from UAE Based Mubadala, sovereign Wealth Fund in Abu Dhabi and Oman investment Authority. The total investment received by Crusoe was 350 million. Crusoe as per an article in CoinDesk will initially open an office in Muscat Oman followed by an office in Abu Dhabi.

UAE DAMAC sells 50 million USD worth of properties via cryptocurrencies

UAE DAMAC sells 50 million USD worth of properties via cryptocurrencies

Ali Sajwani Chief Operating Officer of DAMAC Group told al Roeya media outlet in an interview that UAE DAMAC Properties sold 50 million USD worth of properties in crypto since the beginning of 2022.

As he explained, “DAMAC started accepting crypto as part of our efforts to enhance our service offering in the digital economy. We want to make it easier for those dealing in crypto such as Bitcoin and Ethereum to purchase properties and pay using both these cryptocurrencies. We have succeeded in selling 50 million USD worth of properties via cryptocurrencies since the beginning of 2022.

Payments happen through a third party regulated by Abu Dhabi global market authority, Havyn digital asset exchange. Clients purchase through Havyn and then Havyn transfers the amount to DAMAC’s digital wallet either in USD OR AED as per the exchange rate of Bitcoin or Ethereum at that time. So we don’t take any risk.”

He also sheds light on DAMAC’s metaverse strategy. As he explains the strategy is divided into three phases. The first phase will focus on the properties currently owned by DAMAC which will be on the metaverse by end of 2022. Then in early 2023 DAMAC will move to the second phase with virtual assets that DAMAC aims to build in the DAMAC metaverse and the phase 3 where the company will bridge between the physical and virtual realm allowing DAMAC clients to invest in virtual properties in the DAMAC Metaverse which will include a cohesive environment for communication and entertainment.

He explains, “DAMAC is foraying and investing to widen the scope of its offering to meet the needs of those who are interested in digital assets, starting from virtual homes, properties, even digital wearables and digital jewelry

The market size of the metaverse will be anywhere between 8 to 12 trillion USD by 2030 attracting 5 billion users.

Already DAMAC has announced that it will be investing 100 million USD in the metaverse through DLabs. 

UAE Based Sarwa now offers crypto trading service

UAE Based Sarwa now offers crypto trading service

UAE Sarwa, hybrid automated investment platform regulated by DFSA (Dubai Financial Services Authority) has now added crypto to its trading platform. Sarwa Crypto, a product of Sarwa Digital Wealth Capital Limited regulated by ADGM FSRA,  will offer four major cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Litecoin.

The statement on LinkedIn says, “We are super proud to announce that Sarwa is launching Crypto in our trading platform for clients. This latest product release comes after months of hard work.  Sarwa Crypto will allow users to trade crypto coins such as Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ether, Litecoin, and more to come in the future. In addition there is no account minimum and no transfer fees for local AED accounts.”

Co-Founder, Nadine Mezher commented, “People might ask, in this volatile market? Yes, absolutely. Our product offering is not tied to booms and drops. It’s about understanding the needs of our community and how we can provide them with investing within a safe environment. So we are starting with 4 currencies – the ones that were amongst the first to emerge, as a point of entry.”

Prior to this Sarwa offered within it portfolio exposure of 5 percent to Bitcoin through GrayScale Bitcoin Trust. This was under the regulation of ADGM in Abu Dhabi.

This latest announcement, for Sarwa Crypto, comes just after a few months of launching Sarwa Trade. The World Economic Forum placed Sarwa as one of the Top 14 Fintech shaping the 4th industrial revolution. UAE Dubai International Financial Centre invested in Sarwa, as part of a 100 million USD fund, to help companies seeking access to Middle East, Africa and South Asia. Even Abu Dhabi Investment Office invested as well in Sarwa.

In 2021 Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority granted Sarwa FinTech ExPermit to experiment Robo-Advisory Service in the country.

In UAE, 3D Printing Beats crypto as the tech that could become the most widespread, good and invested in

In UAE, 3D Printing Beats crypto as the tech that could become the most widespread, good and invested in

The recent YouGov Survey in the UAE on the opinions of UAE residents about 16 emerging technologies had some very interesting findings. The survey highlighted the responses of those surveyed on their opinions about the future and impact of these technologies on society. Interestingly awareness about a technology did not necessarily correlate with acceptance or feeling this technology was important or should be invested in.

So while crypto took top spot in terms of awareness, it didn’t continue to take the lead when it came to which technologies would become widespread or which technologies are good or which technologies should governments invest in.

Cryptocurrency as a term topped the list of technologies that UAE residents have heard about. 50 percent of the 1005 residents surveyed have heard a lot about crypto, 36 percent have heard about it a little and only 14 percent have not heard about it at all. This of course is not surprising given all the recent endeavors the UAE government has taken when it comes towards crypto, virtual assets and blockchain. The most recent of which is the inauguration of VARA (Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority) out of Dubai World trade center.

Following cryptocurrency came virtual reality, self-driving cars, 3D Printing, and AI ( Artificial Intelligence),  between 43-47 percent having heard a lot about them.

Interestingly Blockchain came up just after AI with a total of 70 percent having heard of it a lot and a little.

The terms metaverse and even NFTs, came in after with only 29 percent and 27 percent having heard about them a lot. This shows that while UAE was positioned as a leader in terms of NFT purchases in 2021, it seems only a small portion of the population were aware and experimenting with NFTs.

The least technology that UAE respondents are aware of is Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO) with only 15 percent of respondents hearing a lot about them.

When residents were asked which technologies they believe would eventually become widespread, the list changed. Cryptocurrency dropped to 4th place. The top technology respondents felt would become widespread was 3D Printing, Self Driving cars and Artificial Intelligence. Blockchain and metaverse came in 6th and 7th place respectively. While NFTs and DAOs came in 9th and 10th place.

In terms of which technologies would be good for society once again the list changed. 83 percent noted that 3D printing would bring the most good to society, followed by 66 percent who thought AI would be good. Once again cryptocurrency at 5th place and blockchain at 7th, and metaverse and NFTs came in 11th and 12th place. This could illustrate the need for more education and information on the metaverse and NFTs. Most discussion on NFTs has been about art, videos, while not much has been discussed on NFTs in real estate, healthcare, and financial sector.

Finally when asked where should government invest in, once again 3D Printing took first place with over 52 percent believing it was very important, followed by AI at 52% , self-driving cars, at 46%, virtual reality at 40%, artificial organs and cryptocurrency both at 38% followed closely by Blockchain at 37%

EnjinStarter Launchpad for Blockchain games and metaverse in UAE soon

EnjinStarter Launchpad for Blockchain games and metaverse in UAE soon

EnjinStarter, next generation Launchpad for Blockchain games and the metaverse, which is based out of Singapore, could be setting up base soon in UAE.

Prakash Somosundram CEO and Co Founder at EnjinStarter recently visited Dubai.  Nigel Hawley board advisor and a investor in True Global Ventures (TGV), which also recently invested 3 million USD in a series A round as a lead investor into Enjinstarter hosted the visit. EnjinStarter has received a total of 8 million in funding since its inception.EnjinStarter, built on JumpNet is enabling creators and game developers to run capital raising campaigns and build communities using blockchain tech. Not only do they issue tokens but provide game developers with a way to explore other innovative ways of raising capital including utilizing NFTs. They even have an incubation program, supported by an accredited partner network.

Concurrently the MENA gaming sector is one of the fastest-growing gaming markets in the world, with revenue across the MENA-3 (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Egypt) reaching 1.76 billion in 2021.

Since late 2021 and early 2022, a lot of efforts and investments are moving towards a Blockchain enabled gaming sector. Abu Dhabi based, AD Gaming, an entity driving Abu Dhabi’s fast-growing gaming industry partnered with ATTARIUS Network, a UAE crypto and blockchain company, to bring blockchain solutions to the UAE game developers, with a focus on developing blockchain gaming, ATTARIUS Network to build an all-in-one NFT ecosystem for the gaming industry and digital artists.

Back to EnjinStarter, on the LinkedIN post Hawley stated, “What a great pleasure it was welcoming Enjinstarter, to Dubai. We had a fantastic week introducing Prakash Somosundram, CEO and Co-Founder and Shitij Gupta, CFO, to the Dubai ecosystem.  We started with some interesting metaverse and blockchain panel discussions at the Top CEO Conference and Awards.”

He adds in his post that insightful discussions were also held with UAE Crypto Oasis team represented by Saqr Ereiqat as well as the founders of MetaTerrace.

He notes in his post that the highlight of the discussions where the meeting with the Founder of UAE Based Cypher Capital, which launched in March its 100 million USD fund in Blockchain, crypto startups emphasizing those who have set up a base in UAE. As Hawley states, “Highlight was the fruitful discussions with Bijan AliZadeh, Founder and CEO of Cypher Capital.”

From the comments on the post, it seems likely that there is a good chance that EnjinStarter will be making Dubai as a base for its operations in the MENA region. Hawley adds at the end of the post, “We are looking forward to seeing EnjinStarter in Dubai on a more permanent basis going forward.”

Both Crypto Oasis and Cypher Capital have espoused their intentions to build the blockchain ecosystem in the MENA region. Crypto Oasis recently announced that there are 1000 blockchain crypto companies in the UAE. During Davos CryptoOasis which had targeted 1000 Blockchain and crypto entities by end of 2022, re assessed its aim given that already 1000 blockchain and crypto companies have set up base in the UAE. Crypto Oasis is now aiming to have 1500 Blockchain crypto companies set up in UAE by end of 2022, and it looks like EnjinStarter could be one of them.

In the crypto Oasis press release, Ralf Glabischnig, Founder of Crypto Oasis said, “This is an exciting time for us as we exceed expectations considerably month after month. Our target for the year has been achieved already and we’re anticipating exceptional growth in the future. The first months of 2022 have already shown that the key pillars of growing and building the Ecosystem are talent, capital and infrastructure. We believe we are still at an early stage but with the speed of development and growth that we see day by day across the community in this region, we look forward to further advancing the Blockchain economy in the Middle East.”

In the UAE today 53 percent of organizations active in the Blockchain space are native Blockchain entities, which mean their primary focus is blockchain technology, the rest are non-native blockchain organizations which means they offer services or product related to blockchain but not as their primary focus.