The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been showing signs of progress toward cryptocurrencies for a while. In a recent interview at the World Economic Forum (WEF) summit, where leaders from across the globe are assembled, the minister from UAE shared his thoughts on the crypto sector.
Thani Al-Zeyoudi, minister of state for foreign trade, said that crypto would play an important role in UAE’s global trade in the coming days. He also provided a load of updates regarding the country’s trade partnerships and policies scheduled for this year.
Speaking on the crypto sector, he seemed optimistic and enthusiastic about the developments envisioning the asset to play a major role in foreign trade. However, he also highlighted that “the most important thing is that we ensure global governance when it comes to cryptocurrencies and crypto companies.”
In the context of policies, the minister suggested that while working on the regulatory regime for crypto, UAE authorities are also focussing on making the country a hub with substantial crypto-friendly policies that ensure sufficient protection to the investors. In his words:
We started attracting some of the companies to the country with the aim that we’ll build together the right governance and legal system, which are needed.
The comments from the minister come just a week after the UAE Cabinet introduced new regulation which seeks to ensure that entities involved with crypto activities must secure a license and approval from the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA).
Reportedly, the regulation states that if firms fail to get approval, they will have to bear fines of up to $2.7 million. In September last year, the country introduced “Guiding Principles,” published by the financial regulator of Abu Dhabi’s Global Market free economic zone for regulating and supervising digital assets.
The document highlights a friendly stance towards crypto while also focusing on compliance with international standards in anti-money laundering (AML), combating the financing of terrorism (CFT), and supporting financial sanctions.
Interestingly, on January 19, Omar Sultan Al Olama, UAE’s minister of state for artificial intelligence and the digital economy, also appeared at the WEF as a part of a crypto-focused panel. He also stated that while the FTX debacle was a major concern, the country still wants to be a hub. He said, “the crypto companies calling the UAE home is definitely a positive thing.”
In his interaction, Olama also refuted the accusations claiming the country to be rising as a haven for disgraced crypto figures. He said that bad actors don’t have a nationality and don’t have a destination. In addition, he also stressed that governments should come together and work in unison to stop bad actors from going.
He said:
You will see them everywhere. You will see them in the Bahamas, you will see them in New York, and London, and what we need to do as governments is to work together, with the industry as well, to ensure that if someone does something wrong, he can’t move from one place to the other.
The UAE has been trying to become a good hub for crypto companies. Interestingly, the country has been proactively engaging in adoption too. Todayq News reported in October that UAE received the most attention as the Gulf region’s cryptocurrency market increased exponentially in the past year.