The ecosystem will enforce rigorous investor protection, anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism standards.
The Dubai World Trade Center has announced that it is taking a number of government-backed initiatives to become a comprehensive and regulation-based zone for crypto products, operators and exchanges. The initiative is in line with the United Arab Emirates’ attempts to become one of the world’s best crypto-friendly jurisdictions.
In order to improve local crypto development and regulation, the DWTC will design a comprehensive ecosystem for the crypto sector and strive to work with private companies to create an “attractive environment for the sector”.
As one of the most well-known event and exhibition venues in Dubai, the DWTC recognizes the importance of the debates around crypto regulation and will therefore enforce strict standards, including investor protection measures, anti-money laundering regulations and take specific measures to combat terrorist financing via crypto.
“The World Trade Center will create a new world-class regulatory framework of legislative and enforcement guidelines for virtual assets deploy and supervise,“ the DWTC’s statement said.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao welcomed the announcement on Twitter and was thus one of the first to react to this development. Reports suggest that the executive is considering the United Arab Emirates as a possible crypto center, as he reportedly bought his first house in Dubai in October.
The Government of the United Arab Emirates in general and the authorities of Dubai in particular have carried out numerous crypto development projects to find ways in which crypto, blockchain technology and non-fungible tokens (NFT) could be used for the benefit of the local economy.
In January of this year, the Dubai Financial Services Authority announced its plan to create a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies in 2021. In line with this commitment, the DFSA has issued a number of crypto-related regulatory approvals this year. Dubai has also set up several free economic zones for the crypto sector to drive its growth in the region in 2021.