When I decided in May 2022 to go on my own and start LaraontheBlock, I didn’t know where it would take me or how I would be able to succeed, but what I did know is that I had gained a lot of experience from my life and my career, and I was living in an age the digital one that not only democratized information and value but also gave individuals the freedom to be able to chase their dreams, work from anywhere in the world, and have their talents and voice heard! Today a year and half later, thankful for all the positive responses I receive for the articles I write, for the news I post, and for the sharing of information that helps to grow the blockchain and crypto ecosystem in the GCC and MENA region, I am moving the LaraontheBlock dream from blogger.com to my own full-fledged website www.LaraontheBlock.com  The success of LaraontheBlock blog was fantastic, and this couldnt have been done without the strong community of readers, followers, startups, partners, and community...

UAE headquartered Fuze, a digital assets infrastructure provider, has raised a seed round of $14mn, the largest Seed investment in a digital assets startup in the history of the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA). The investment was led by Abu Dhabi-based Further Ventures, along with participation by US-based Liberty City Ventures.  Fuze will benefit from the strategic capital and network of these investors, acting as a catalyst for the business as it builds the digital asset infrastructure that will drive the future of finance.  A first-of-its-kind infrastructure provider in MENA, Fuze enables any bank, fintech or traditional enterprise to easily offer regulated digital assets products to their customers through their native apps. Fuze was founded by an expert team of fintech, traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi) leaders, with its co-founders holding extensive knowledge from experience in global hypergrowth businesses.  CEO, Mohammed Ali ...

  In a recent LinkedIn post , the UAE Ministry of Finance praised Fintechs and technologies such as AI Big Data and Blockchain and their role in redefining payments stating in a video that the launch of digital dirham soon. The digital dirham project is the CBDC project being developed within the Central Bank of the UAE. As per the post, “Fintech, the cutting-edge integration of digital technology into financial services is reshaping the future of finance. From AI to Big Data and blockchain, fintech innovations optimise investments and redefine payments.” In the video the UAE Ministry of Finance states, “ The UAE has started its digital currency strategy and the digital dirham is on the way!” In April 2023, it was announced that R3 was chosen by UAE Central Bank as its technology partner to design and build a CBDC for the first phase of the central bank’s CBDC project because it is a permissioned based DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) that decentralize assets privately an...

  The Blockchain related job market in the GCC MENA region is growing, and salaries differ between varying GCC countries depending on need, and availability. According to Salary Explorer 2023 reports, the average blockchain developer salary in the UAE per month is $3348 ( 12,300 AED), in Oman $3922 ( 1,510 OMR ), in KSA $3945 (14,800 SAR), in Qatar $3597 (13,100 QAR), in Bahrain $3630   ( 1,370 BHD), while in Egypt and Morocco the average salary is $266 ( 8,230 EGP), and $1810 ( 17,500 MAD). Interestingly others have noted that the average crypto salary per month in Dubai is $6582. As per their report salary estimates are based on anonymous submissions by cryptos, website users collected in Dubai from past and present job posts. Concurringly a number of entities in the UAE are requesting job positions. One example is Crypto.com that is hiring a Web3 senior regulatory reporting analyst, in Dubai. Recently as wel the Commercial Bank of Dubai was searching for Head of CB...

WOW Summit has announced the launched of its WEB3 Summit Dubai, widely hailed as the WOW SUMMIT Dubai to be held on October 8th and 9th 2023.  Following its successful events in Lisbon and Hong Kong, WOW Summit Dubai 2023 emerges to unite distinguished industry titans, esteemed government officials, visionary funds, enterprising venture capitalists, boundary-pushing NFT and digital artists, trailblazing entrepreneurs, and influential multinational corporations.  The event will unfold at the  Atlantis the Royal, The Palm—a sanctuary of innovation where dreams transform into reality. The Summit aims to drive the innovative trajectory of Web3, covering cutting-edge trends and innovations in technology. Through carefully selected programs, attendees will explore topics including the Web2 - Web3 transition, CBDC, regulations, asset tokenization, and the social impact and applications of blockchain and DLT technologies for real-life applications.  Blockchain visionar...

US blockchain deposit token infrastructure provider which ues Corda by R3 to bring CBC deposit token infrastructure , Fluent Finance has expanded into the MENA region with the opening of its operations in Abu Dhabi, UAE under the new name, Fluent Economic Bridge. Fluent Finance will offer trade finance and cross border payments with the support of UAE Ministry of Economy. Fluent Finance's new UAE entity, named Fluent Economic Bridge, will be focused on deposit token infrastructure, promoting cost-effective and borderless trade finance between Abu Dhabi banks and global markets. The company is currently procuring a trade license from Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), an integral part of Fluent's mission to offer dependable digital asset services to its UAE partners and the global trade community. On twitter, Fluent Finance stated, “ We’ve expanded into the MEA region, setting the stage for the next chapter in UAE's FinTech innovation, delivering our leading-edge deposit to...

  In Ripple’s latest report entitled “ 2023 New Value report, Crypto Trends in Business and Beyond” which covered topics such as cryptocurrencies, tokenization, DeFi, and crypto custody, financial decision makers from MENA ( Middle East and North Africa) are more bullish than their counterparts in other regions when it comes to cryptocurrencies, digital assets, and Blockchain. As per the report findings, 72% of finance leaders surveyed expressed increased confidence in the crypto industry over the last 6 months, the number is even higher for those in the MENA region, reaching 87%. 90% of global finance leaders anticipate big impacts on business from blockchain and digital assets in the next three years. In terms of tokenization,they see the most massive impact in public stock trading and private share trading. This was especially expressed by finance decision makers with cryptocurrency experience in MENA. In addition, global finance decision makers predict CBDCs and stableco...

  The senior advisor of Saudi Central Bank   Anthony Butler   for blockchain, AI and digital assets recently posted   on LinkedIn new job positions opening up in Riyadh KSA. The roles he mentioned included sSoftware engineers with hands-on experience working with DLT  ( Distributed Ledger Technology) protocols and applications. According to Butler the role requires someone with experience implementing solutions using tech such as Ethereum, Hyperledger Besu, Hyperledger Fabric, and/or R3 Corda.” He adds   these talents should particularly   be knowledgable of solutions involving tokenisation of real world assets. The job applicant should understand the functional and non-functional aspects of designing such solutions and be able to work with broader engineering teams to lead design and implementation. Understanding of DeFi and emerging areas, such as self-sovereign identity. Also required are software engineers/full-stack developers at all levels ...

  MENA based Bank ABC has won two distinguished awards at Global Finance's much-coveted The Innovators Awards -2023. The Bank's innovation and digitization Centre, ABC Labs, has been named as one of "the World's Best Financial Innovation Labs. ABC bank is implementing the GCC region’s first blockchain based cross border instant payment solutions as well as CBDC project with the Central Bank of Bahrain. In 2020 The Central Bank of Bahrain collaborated  with J P Morgan and Bank ABC in a pilot scheme to introduce instantaneous cross border payment solution leveraging state of the art technology and digital currency. The pilot was successfully completed in 2022.  Bank ABC along with J.P. Morgan will pilot the transferring of funds from and to the Kingdom of Bahrain in US-Dollars for payments from buyers to suppliers. This will lead to suppliers being paid faster and buyers originating payments in shorter time periods without the need for holding funds in advance. The Cen...

  The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in a bilateral meeting in Abu Dhabi on 29 May, have agreed to enhance collaboration between the two jurisdictions on virtual asset regulations and development.   In addition, the two central banks facilitated discussions between their respective innovation hubs on joint fintech development initiatives and knowledge sharing efforts. A joint working group led by the CBUAE and HKMA, with support from the relevant stakeholders of the two jurisdictions’ banking sectors, will be formed to take forward the agreed initiatives. Following the bilateral meeting, the two central banks, joined by senior executives from the UAE and Hong Kong banks, conducted a seminar on key opportunities to pursue between Hong Kong and the UAE. The seminar covered discussions on possible arrangements to facilitate better cross-border trade settlement, how UAE corporates can better utilize the Hong Kong financial infras...

  Saudi Arabian unified national platform for government services recently carried out an interesting survey on twitter . It posted a general consultation request by the Ministry of telecom, Space and IT with regards to which emerging technology would citizens of Saudi Arabia like to see implemented in KSA. People were asked to choose between IoT (internet of things), Blockchain, 3D printing and VR/AR/XR. 7895 votes were casted with 49 percent of them choosing IoT, with 10 percent choosing blockchain, 16 percent choosing 3D printing and 24 percent choosing VR/AR/XR. This is interesting and shows that Internet of things and AR are the most popular emerging technologies among those who voted. In addition it seems that the Saudi government is interested in these four technologies. This comes at a time when the Saudi Central Bank is moving forward to CBDCs, digital assets, and more. In addition recently many blockchain use cases have been launched in KSA. But more eye opening...

    Anthony Butler, the Chief Technology Officer for IBM MENA region who was based out of KSA, and is a blockchain, AI, metaverse expert has joined Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) as a senior advisor. He announced the new position on LinkedIn saying, “I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as Senior Advisor at Saudi Central Bank – SAMA! As a senior advisor to SAMA I will be focused on   first of a kind applications of emerging technology, such as artificial intelligence, distributed ledger technologies, quantum, and advanced cryptography in support of payments innovations (such as CBDC, stable coins, and tokenization), transformation of Suptech/Regtech, green finance,   open finance, decentralized finance (DeFi), and cybersecurity. Anthony Butler had spent 15 years as chief technology officer for IBM in the Middle East and Africa working in emerging technologies, with a specific focus on the application of artificial intelligence, blockchain and metaver...

    During Corda Day Middle East held on May 11 th 2023 in Dubai UAE, speakers from the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia (SAMA) as well as the Central Bank of UAE discussed their CBDC strategies and pilots. Both Central Banks are working with R3 Corda on their CBDC pilot programs, SAMA in its sandbox and UAE Central Bank in their research and development center. The event as per R3, brought together financial service leaders, technologists and Corda enthusiasts from around the region and the globe. Of the prominent speakers included H.E. Saif Humaid Hamad Al Dhaheri, Assistant Governor - Strategy, Financial Infrastructure and Digital Transformation, Central Bank of UAE and Mr. Mohsen AlZahrani, Virtual Assets (VA) and CBDC program Lead, Saudi Central Bank – SAMA as well as Richard G Brown, Chief Technology Officer, R3. Al Dhaheri made a keynote address on “Future of Money, CBDC and the Digital Dirham” while AlZahrani carried out the closing Keynote, on the topic of “Wholesa...

  UAE based WadzPay Blockchain enabled Hajj Pilgrim Digital payments solution has been chosen as a finalist at Currency Research’s second annual Advancement in Digital Currency Awards, being presented at the Digital Currency Conference in Mexico City, on May 18th, 2023. WadzPay’s solution was chosen under the category for Best Innovation in Digital Currency. WadzPay is competing against top international blockchain fintech providers such as Stellar. According to Parv Aggarwal , Vice President for CBDCs and Partnerships, “We are super excited to represent WadzPay and our novel cross border Hajj Pilgrimage token.” Currency Research awards are presented to digital currency initiatives that advance the platform as a payment instrument. Currency Research chooses entities who are working on all types of digital currencies at all stages of developments. The award categories include “Outstanding Advancement in Digital Currency” whose category finalist for this year include, Crunchf...

    Qatar Financial Centre Authority and Blockchain solution provider R3 have signed an MOU to develop and grow Qatar’s fintech industry using technologies such as DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology). As per the agreement QFC and R3 will work together to create a potential lab environment that caters to commercial banks and fintech in Qatar. The partnership also aims to promote education and training on asset digitization and the use of (DLT). The two organizations will also create working groups to observe new and emerging regulatory paradigms and support the QFC's deployment of DLT at national level. Yousuf Mohamed Al-Jaida, Chief Executive Officer of QFC, said, "We are pleased to partner with R3, a renowned financial technology company, to explore opportunities that will contribute to the growth and success of the financial technology industry in Qatar. Through this collaboration, we aim to foster innovation and create an environment that supports the growth of fintec...

  Saudi Arabia’s Food and Drug Authority (SFDA), in cooperation with KSA’s Digital Government Authority (DGA), has conducted a Proof of Concept (POC) using blockchain technology and HALAL certificates built as NFTs for tracking the journey of products from the farm to point of sale as well as certifying them.  As per the news, this experiment is one of the first of its kind in tracing the movement of products on a large scale using blockchain technology. The solution will provide   end-users with complete transparency regarding the parties involved in the supply chain, such as the farm, the slaughterhouse, and the retailer. By recording data in a decentralized manner, the end consumer can have confidence in the product's journey, ensuring security and immutability. Additionally, the POC also included displaying other information about the supply chain partners, including the "Halal" certificate from the Saudi Halal Center, which documents the work of slaughterhouses...

  R3 was chosen by UAE Central Bank as its technology partner to design and build a CBDC for the first phase of the central bank’s CBDC project because it is a permissioned based DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) that decentralize assets privately and works well in regulated industries, but more importantly is its interoperability and asset fluidity. R3 will not only assist UAE’s Central Bank in developing a CBDC but also in tokenizing financial and non-financial activities, in addition to the digitalization of other financial services.   R3 offers interoperable CBDC solution LaraontheBlock interviewed R3 to learn more about their role in UAE’s CBDC project.   Alisa DiCaprio, Chief Economist at R3 when asked why R3 was chosen and not another Blockchain technology provider replied, “R3’s Corda is the world’s leading permissioned distributed application platform and is specifically designed to work in highly regulated environments with today’s financial services industr...