Dubai launches crypto regulatory body to boost global financial influence.

Dubai and Abu Dhabi have been ranked as the top crypto hubs due to their strong regulatory structure, which accounted for 35% of the total score. However, the UAE’s low crypto adoption score dampened the impact of this achievement. Despite this, Dubai still managed to secure a place in the top five due to its high scores in the opportunities category, which measured per-capita crypto events, companies, and jobs. Additionally, Dubai achieved the second-highest quality of life score, which was the second-heaviest weighted criterion at 15% of the total score.

Many big names in the crypto industry, such as Binance co-founders Changpeng “CZ” Zhao and He Yi, Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong, and India’s largest exchange, Wazirx, have all established a presence in Dubai. This is due to Dubai’s master plan to enter the top tier of global financial centers, alongside New York, London, and Hong Kong.

Dubai has been growing as a business and financial services hub for the Middle East by embracing innovation, particularly in how it approached crypto with deliberation and intention. In 2016, the city-state officially announced that it was discussing a legal framework for cryptocurrencies. Six years later, in March 2022, Dubai established the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA), the world’s first independent crypto regulator.

As the crypto industry’s demands for clear regulation in the United States are met with a slew of lawsuits from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the UAE has emerged as a viable alternative. With over 3.2 million non-Emirati residents out of its total population of ~3.5 million, Dubai is a “melting pot of people,” which presents numerous use cases for blockchain technology, such as facilitating remittances and the flight of capital.

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Dubai’s unique feature as a crypto hub is that it offers a home for all types of use cases. Shortly after establishing VARA, the government unveiled the Dubai Metaverse Strategy, aiming to create “one of the world’s top 10 metaverse economies as well as a global hub for the metaverse community.” Additionally, Dubai hosts many tech conferences, featuring blockchain and Web3 as two of its 18 focus areas, and numerous crypto events.

Edited by Jeanhee Kim.

– This is already in English. There is no need for translation.