This week several entities each one in a different sector announced that they have become the first in their fields to accept crypto payments. Writing this piece I get a feeling that this will soon become common practice. For the past few months all one reads is more and more entities in UAE accepting crypto payments, whether they are schools, restaurants, property developers, Emirates airlines, retail shopping centers such as Majid Al Futtaim and many more. This time it is the turn for art galleries and charities. The majority of crypto enthusiasts and those passionate about Blockchain and crypto have been waiting for this for a long time; it signals the entrance of crypto into mainstream economy and once that happens there is no turning back. Bearish or bullish markets are of little significance because everyone is into crypto.

So Yesterday UAE based Galloire, art gallery announced that it is now accepting crypto payments such a Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDC for artwork sales globally. It is doing so through UAE based digital asset exchange, Midchains. Prior to this DAMAC properties announced it was accepting crypto payments through UAE based digital asset exchange Hayvn

Founder of Galloire Edward Gallagher said; “We have an absolute belief in the use of technology to bring art to as wide an audience as possible, so by using photorealistic VR and AR you’ve already seen us bring exhibitions from world-famous artists to tens of thousands more people than could have ever seen it in the gallery. We want more people to connect with contemporary art and also believe in an egalitarian approach to how people want to pay for that art: Why should we force a crypto-native person to pay in traditional (fiat) currency to acquire a beautiful painting, and vice-versa, why should a traditional collector looking to venture into NFTs have to pay in crypto-currency just to access some digital art they fall in love with?”

MidChains CEO Basil Al Askari said; “We are a company which prides itself on innovation and being able to provide safe and regulated ways to transact and invest with cryptocurrency, so working with Galloire to enable collectors to invest in art using their preferred cryptocurrency made perfect sense to us. Enabling people to pay securely for a physical asset with a digital asset, especially something as impactful as art, is a huge step forward in the UAE and we have been able to power that today, not in months or years’ time.”

Prior to this, UAE government backed nonprofit healthcare organization also became the first healthcare charity to accept cryptocurrency donations.  Al Jalila Foundation announced that it had been granted approval to receive charitable donations in cryptocurrencies. Again Al Jalila did this through a partnership with a leading cryptocurrency platform without naming it.  

Dr Abdulkareem Sultan Al Olama, CEO of Al Jalila Foundation, said: “As a philanthropic organization we rely on charitable donations and we are always seeking innovative ways to expand our donation channels for ease of convenience for donors from all around the world to support our programs. Therefore, as an emerging source of fundraising, providing the opportunity to the growing number of crypto users around the world to donate to Al Jalila Foundation to causes that interest them is a win-win for us as a foundation and the donor community. We are proud to be the first healthcare charity in the UAE to accept donations in cryptocurrencies bridging the gap between physical and digital currency.”

One thing remains to be seen, is when the UAE government announces that it accept crypto payments, then I will just call it a day and name UAE the crypto nation of 2022. 

ChainTech Labs, the first Reward Bearing tokens marketplace, with custom smart contracts and vaulting technologies that will enable startups and SMEs to get funded utilizing a novel token issuing framework, has launched out of UAE specifically out of DIFC (Dubai International Financial Center).

On its twitter page it states that it is the first DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) out DIFC in UAE.

As per their website, ChainTech builds next generation Dapps for government agencies, global conglomerates and companies operating in over 40 different industries. The company also manages NFT communities. They state that the “total token market cap under their command reached 100,000,000 USD in June 2022.

They have developed BAPESCLAN which is a metavestor NFT DAO with a total market cap of 60,000,000. Minting officially started today. They also have developed BLOODLINES™, the first decentralized animated series, created and owned by its holders, that bridges the gap between Hollywood and Web 3.

Their product offering includes ChainLaunch a Launchpad for highly professional NFT projects and companies with a major focus on metaverse play-to-earn gaming, ChainRescue™ an NFT consultancy service that assists and embraces NFT projects and their communities with promising missed potential, ChainVest™, the world’s first marketplace for Reward Bearing Tokens (RBTs) that enables startups and SMEs to raise capital like never before. RBTs provide holders with access points in the metaverse to earn rewards, ChainReality™ a realistic digital twin of our world, also known as a meta-world. It is built entirely on Unreal Engine 5 with realistic avatars created with Metahuman.

In addition they have developed ChainCapital™, the world’s first DAO Metafund powered by fractionalized ownership, facilitating the fundamental concept of distribution of wealth and power and ChainPaid™ a service that enables private and business payments of any bill or invoice using any cryptocurrency. There has never been a smoother way to pay for anything then now.

Above and beyond all this, in a twitter teaser they announced that they will be partnering with Dubai Blockchain Center and will announce this during the Dubai Fintech Week on the 28th and 29th of June. Both Dr. Marwan Alzarouni, CEO at the Dubai Blockchain Center, and Erik Lydecker, MD at Chaintech Labs Limited will be present.

Even before the UAE and specifically Dubai release their crypto mining regulations, companies have already started operating in the country. Recently 2Bminer, crypto mining hosting center with operations in the UAE, Czech Republic, and USA, signed a partnership agreement with UAE Seed Group, a company of the Private office of Sheikh Saeed Bin Ahmed Al Maktoum.

The announcement and the fact that 2Bminer is present in the UAE is not surprising. Prior to this, UAE-based Phoenix Technology Consultants signed a $650 million order for crypto mining rigs as part of its expansion plans in UAE and MENA region, while a UAE Sovereign wealth Fund is building one of the biggest crypto mining farms in the region under the strategic guidance of Roland Berger.

It would seem that 2BMiner is espousing its ecofriendly nature. As per 2Bminer website, their crypto mining machines mainly use hydro, wind and solar power. Sustainability is something that the UAE government is keen on. The company offers the sale of mining machines and as well as the placement of those machines in their centers and under their management. In short 2Bminer offers mining hosting services.

As per the press release, the agreement with UAE SEED group, SEED will help 2bminer.com expand its operations in the Emirates and the wider Middle East, reach the right audience, access top decision-makers in the government as well as private sectors, and market their crypto mining products and services effectively in the region.  While 2Bminer will focus on transforming the crypto mining market of the UAE by providing the best machines, technical support, and global hosting centers to make the minting of cryptocurrencies easier and more profitable. 

Hisham Al Gurg, CEO of Seed Group and the Private Office of Sheikh Saeed bin Ahmed Al Maktoum, said: “As cryptocurrencies are becoming increasingly popular, people are eager to invest in them and make profits. The UAE wants to establish a crypto mining ecosystem, offering a growth-oriented environment to FinTech companies and world-class mining services to clients in the region itself. Companies offering mining equipment, hosting services, world-class facilities, and good returns to investors at globally competitive rates hold huge potential in the Emirates’ digital economy.”

Jakub Hlavenka, CEO, 2bminer.com, said: “We are pleased to enter into a mutually beneficial partnership with SEED Group. The collaboration will help propel our business interests and goals in the MENA region through the group’s support and a strong base of regional connections. We are committed to providing the best platform for crypto mining in the region.”

This is not the first agreement SEED group has signed with Blockchain and crypto entities. Over the years, UAE SEED Group has announced many such partnerships examples include Ubirch, a German blockchain cyber security specialist, DiamondBack, creators diamondbacked stablecoin, DeepDive Technology, OwlTing for Blockchain ecommerce solutions for travel services, Aergo Foundation and Blocko, Fantom Foundation and Liquefy a security token solution provider.

Of those companies, Liquefy no longer seems to exist, DiamondBack has no presence in UAE nor does it seem to be active. As for Ubirch, they are in the UAE but no major announcements have been made thus far along the lines of their activities in the UAE.

As for OwlTing, it still seems to be active in China and Asia but no activities in the MENA region. Then there is Fantom Foundation which has seen some controversy over the past year despite its strong presence at Consensys 2022 and announcements that TrustWallet now supports Fantom.  

As for DeepDive, it has built partnerships in the UAE. It is a partner of UAE Bedu which encompasses an NFT factory, and metaverse solution provider. 

So in short, while SEED has partnered over the years with several entities in the Blockchain and crypto sector we have yet to see strong hanging fruits of these partnerships on the ground in the UAE. Even though some have managed to make some inroads. The recent one with 2Bminer might be a game changer for SEED, we will just have to wait and see.

UAE based ZelaaPayAE, with headquarters in Sharjah Tech Park and offices in Dubai, which works to integrate fiat and crypto payments utilizing Polygon Blockchain infrastructure, has now joined Visa’s Fintech Fast Track program for a period of five years, to speed up the process of integrating with visa while introducing crypto backed payment credential in the UAE and wider CEMEA region.

As per ZelaaPayAE twitter post, “In this 5-year long partnership with Visa, we are focused on growing across United Arab Emirates and KSA region. ZelaaPayAE shall continue to identify and develop payment products such as collateralized spending and more throughout the span of this collaboration.”

They add, “This accolade now enables us as a fintech provider to enable crypto-transactions using physical debit cards easier and accessible with over 70 million merchants that comprise Visa’s vast ecosystem. It will also allow us to innovate further and surf beyond just debit cards.”

“I have dreamt of making ZelaaPayAE a pioneering fintech startup in the UAE and one of the first movers towards providing alternative financial solutions to the end consumer in this region. By joining Visa’s Fast Track program, this will now be possible and our demographic reach will be limitless as we strive to push for adoption and further utility of payments through cryptocurrencies,” said Sahil Arora, CEO & Founder of ZelaaPayAE.

Alex McCrea, VP, Head of Strategic Partnerships and Ventures for Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, Visa, said: ““We’re delighted to welcome ZelaaPayAE to Visa’s Fintech Fast Track program and excited to work with them on the enablement of secure and seamless crypto payments in the UAE. We have no doubt the team at ZelaaPayAE will leverage access to the experts, technology and resources that the program allows to scale with efficiency and expand access to crypto payments.”

Recently ZelaaPay announced that that Cagau store in Dubai are now accepting cryptocurrencies at their store using Bitcoin, USDT, BNB, TRX through ZelaaPay’s XPOS powered by PundixLabs.  

ZelaaPay partnered with Lead Ventures in the UAE.

UAE Midchains has also partnered recently with Visa Fast track to offer the same services as ZelaayPay’s partnership with Visa. 

UAE Blockchain enabled LedgerFi, valuated at 6.3 million USD has just completed its seed round investment from a UAE private Fintech firm. As per their website LedgerFi which utilizes XDC blockchain network, wants to become the world’s first Decentralized Digital Asset Exchange ( DDAX) where users can transfer all types of digital assets.

LedgerFi IT Solutions is disrupting the traditional ways of exchanging digital assets, digital energy & digital property by enabling the users of Web 3.0 to adopt & adapt a peer-to-peer, censorship resistant and decentralized ecosystem. It is also extending the use case of transfer of digital assets beyond crypto currencies and enabling users with a seamless platform for exchange of emails, messages, data, files, information, digital currencies and even NFTs.

LedgerFi recently launched its flagship product called as LedgerMail which is the world’s first blockchain email service operating on a hybrid blockchain platform of XDC network. So far LedgerMail has onboarded more than 750,000 users and also partnered with big tech enterprises for secure, private & encrypted email communication.

Founder and CEO at LedgerFi, Mr. Vinay Krishna quoted, “We are thrilled to complete our Pre-Seed Investment round. Now we are working on benchmarking the Web 3.0 communication ecosystem and build a futuristic, simplistic and transformative ecosystem for the individuals and businesses.”

As per the pressrelease, LedgerFi will utilize this investment for catalyzing the technological development of new solutions which will complement the existing products, and LedgerFi will also operationalize its entity with business expansion in the 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.

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. 

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.”

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.”

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”.