Venture capital fund Varys Capital is looking to enter the GCC market, and is working to raise $75 million for its equity fund focused on blockchain innovation. The fund aims to achieve long-term growth from a curated portfolio of high-quality, early-stage businesses utilising blockchain to solve addressable needs in the wider software, gaming, and finance industries.  To govern its entry into the UAE, Varys Capital has secured reputable local services, including Al Tamimi, one of the GCC’s most prestigious law firms, as its primary counsel. According to the press release, the company has received inquiries from local institutions and prominent investors. The fund has 12 commitments in place across decentralised (DeFi) and centralised (CeFi) finance, GameFi/Web3, infrastructure, and emerging technologies. Darius Askaripour, Managing Partner, Varys Capital said, “We are looking at entering the UAE market first encouraged by supportive local government directives, its high innovation lev

  UAE regulated virtual asset broker dealer and investment management services, Laser Digital, a subsidiary of Nomura has launched their Bitcoin Adoption Fund. The fund, which provides a seamless way for institutional investors to access the digital asset class, will be the first in a range of digital adoption investment solutions that Laser Digital Asset Management will bring to the market. The Laser Digital Bitcoin Adoption Fund, provides long-onlyexposure to Bitcoin whilst being one of the most cost effective and secure investment solutions. To secure the fund's assets, Laser will use Komainu, which was founded in 2018 by Nomura, Ledger and Coinshares and delivers a regulated custody solution for institutional digital asset investors. The Fund is a segregated portfolio part of Laser Digital Funds SPC, aSegregated Portfolio Company registered asa mutual fund pursuant to section 4(3) of the Mutual Funds Actwith CIMA (Cayman Islands Regulatory Authority). On launching the

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 Yusuf (Mo Ali

    As Taurus, digital asset infrastructure provider, offer digital custody and tokenization services, partners with Deutsche Bank, it plans to expand into the UAE among other countries. Founded in 2018, Taurus offers enterprise-grade digital asset infrastructure for the issuance, safeguarding, and trading of various digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, tokenized assets, NFTs, and digital currencies. The company’s product portfolio includes Taurus-Protect, a secure storage solution used by over 25 financial institutions and corporations in Europe, and Taurus-Capital, which facilitates the issuance and management of NFTs and tokenized assets on public and private blockchains. Deutsche Bank’s partnership with Taurus builds on the bank’s recent initiatives in the digital asset space. By leveraging Taurus’ technology, the bank aims to meet the evolving needs of its clients in the digital asset ecosystem. Paul Maley, the global head of securities services at Deutsche Bank, emph

  Abu Dhabi Finance week, running from November 27 th to November 30 th will be holding discussions on the future of finance that will cover topics such as payments,   digital assets, cyber security, market integrity and credit. It will include The Regulators Summit, Blockchain Abu Dhabi, Risk4.0, A.I. Abu Dhabi and the 2023 Fintech Abu Dhabi Awards. Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, and Chairman of the Executive Council and powered by Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), ADFW will seek to examine the factors affecting monetary systems, technological disruptions, financing the race to net zero, the resultant services and facilities, and the industrial and social sectors that impact the global financial system. It will collectively aim to collaborate on maximising the opportunities and minimising the challenges presented within the ‘Transition Era’.   Commenting on the ADFW’s pioneering theme, His E

  Saudi’s fintech entity Geidea just announced that it has partnered with UAE based Blockchainenabled payments platform Magnati, and FAB ( First Abu Dhabi Bank) to offer digital payments in KSA, this comes after Geidea had partnered with Blockchain payments platform WadzPay in 2022. As per the recent announcement, The collaboration has the potential to be transformative in the Saudi payments space and is set to create exceptional value for clients, bridging the gap between advanced financial solutions and accessibility, while ensuring enhanced affordability, said the statement. With a focus on innovation and technology, Magnati offers Payment as a Platform services that cater to a wide range of industries and businesses, encompassing integrated payment solutions, secure transaction processing, and comprehensive e-commerce solutions. Launched in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2008, Geidea provides over 700,000 payment terminals (POS) across the region and serves over 139,000 trust

    On their LinkedIn page , the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) announced   that in its journey to accelerate the development of Qatar's digital ecosystem it will be launching the QFC Digital Assets Lab, a ground-breaking programme aimed at accelerating open innovation and promoting peer collaboration within the industry through proof-of-concept and proof-of-value, on September 6 th 2023 now postponed to October 9th 2023.  As per the post, “ It is with pleasure that we invite you to join us on this momentous event, that will be streamed live via LinkedIn and YouTube. The event will present the qualifying criteria for entry, the Lab's operating model and key benefits, and announce the opening for applications.” The post adds, “With the QFC Digital Assets Lab, we aim to seamlessly integrate transformative technologies into real-world applications, spanning finance, supply chain management, energy and sustainability, compliance and reporting, healthcare and beyond.” A few w

In a recent tweet , the Founder of WadzPay, a blockchain technology payment provider with a presence in the UAE, Anish Jain, offered an update to the community stating that WadzPay had made strides on the licensing front and are in the “final stages". In addition he added that WPC token would be listed on a Tier1 regulated exchange in the Middle East. As for the WadzPay product it will be ready for launch in Q3 of this fiscal year with live terminals on WadzPay soon. Prior to this in a LinkedIn post , WadzPay announced that its blockchain enabled payments platform was now technically live for Pilgrims in Saudi Arabia. The solution is intended to facilitate digital payments and creates a cashless experience in KSA. As per the announcement, WadzPay works with large payment companies, banks, and global entities to enable virtual asset-based transaction processing and settlement. Their private blockchain program will enable pilgrims to use mobile app-based wallets issued by an approve

    In a recent LinkedIn post , Henk Jan Hoogendoorn , Chief Financial Sector Officer at Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) Authority revealed that the digital assets framework that the authority has been working on will soon be launched along with the digital asset lab. As noted, QFC is working with Price Waterhouse Cooper ( PWC) to finalize the digital assets framework and the launch of the digital assets lab. As Hoogendoorn noted, “ We are working on digitalassets framework together with Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (QFCRA) supported by the expertise of PwC .We are making good progress on preparation of Digital Asset Lab to be launched soon.” Prior to this Qatar Financial Authority had taken several inititiatves towards advancing DLT, Blockchain and digital assets within the financial sector. In May speaking to LaraontheBlock, Hoogendoorn stated , “We are developing our digital assets framework to allow for public tokenization of assets, including securities, bond

  After committing to invest $200 million in IslamicCoin issued by HAQQ Blockchain, a shariah compliant coin, Alpha Blue Ocean’s ABO Digital has invested $10 million potential investment in Blocktrade. ABO Digital a strategic financing partner in Blocktrade’s utility token BTEX. Blocktrade is a pioneering gamified crypto trading platform that combines blockchain technology and gamification principles to provide a seamless and immersive trading experience for digital assets. The financing commitment from ABO Digital brings added value to the gamified users on Blocktrade's platform, allowing them to explore exciting new product launches and enhanced features. The investment will fuel the development of cutting-edge technologies, providing users with a richer and more immersive experience within the gamified asset marketplace. Additionally, the financing commitment will enable Blocktrade to expand its user base, attract top-tier game developers, and foster strategic partnerships

    UAE’s RAK Digital Assets Oasis (Ras Al Khaimah DAO), the world’s first and only free zone dedicated to global digital and virtual assets companies, and The HBAR Foundation have signed of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The HBAR Foundation will support RAK DAO ecosystem members to leverage the power of blockchain and build economies and applications on Hedera, the most used enterprise-grade public network. This marks RAK DAO’s first operational relationship, bringing together the expertise and resources of both companies to provide direct and streamlined access to benefits within the Hedera ecosystem. These include a comprehensive grant program, financial backing processes, specialized expert support across technology, marketing and business development, and support to scale adoption and innovation of new ideas in the Web3 space. “By creating and enabling the world’s first licensed Web3 ecosystem, we are facilitating the seamless exchange of information, connecting busine

  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 of seniority. These applicants sho

  Swiss private Bank Julius Baer in a recent Bloomberg article announced that it will be expanding its crypto wealth management services in Dubai UAE. This will be the first digital assets service offering outside of Swtizerland by the bank. As per the article, Julius Baer’s subsidiary JBME will apply for a digital assets license variation on top of its existing permissions in the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DIFC). This would allow the entity to arrange and provide advice and custodial services on digital assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies. This is not surprising given that in Julius Baer’s recent global wealth and Lifestyle report, it published that Dubai had risen to the seventh position demonstrating its remarkable success a a destination for the wealthy. The city has emerged as the preferred choice for companies and entrepreneurs seeking a foothold in the Middle East and is highly favoured by expatriates. By providing an attractive tax framew

  Digital assets infrastructure provider for financial institutions, Fuze Finance has been chosen as one of 15 startups to participate in Abu Dhabi’s Hub 71 2023 cohort. As per the website of Fuze Finance, the company was purpose built for the Middle East because the company believes the Middle East will be the epicentre of digital asset innovation. The MENA market, is seeing rapid growth in digital assets. Digital asset transactions of over $566 billion from June 2021 to June 20 22, 48% more than the year prior. Fuze was among 15 startups chosen because it is aligned to Abu Dhabi’s strategic ambitions, including   healthtech, fintech and edtech firms. The addition of the latest cohort has increased the size of Hub71’s ecosystem to more than 240 startups. In the latest cohort, 67 per cent of the selected startups are headquartered outside the UAE, reinforcing the increasing the status of Abu Dhabi as a global innovation and business hub. The 15 startups originate from the UA

      UAE Cypher Capital is one of the investors in Concordia, a multi-chain risk and collateral management protocol for digital assets. Concordia closed a successful $4 million seed round in June, attracting significant investments from Tribe Capital, Kraken Ventures and UAE based Cypher Capital among other investors including Saison Capital.  Concordia’s vision is to create an interconnected, permissionless, and optimized DeFi ecosystem that promotes accessibility, affordability, and developer-friendly environments, ultimately unlocking the true transformative potential of DeFi. Concordia’s ground-breaking solution attracted the attention of leading Dubai VC Cypher Capital, who are building their portfolio into one of the leading web3 centric portfolios globally. Bill Qian, Chairman of Cypher Capital said “Concordia represents a significant milestone in the evolution of decentralized finance. As Chairman of Cypher Capital, I am thrilled to be part of this ground-breaking in

  Ukraine headquartered Hacken, a blockchain security auditor that aims to make Web3 a safer place, has partnered with Dubai Blockchain Center. As per a Hacken team tweet, “ This is a pivotal step towards accelerating blockchain adoption in Dubai and ensuring enhanced security in the tech scene.” Igor Hacken, Business Development Manager at Hacken tweeted , “Very proud moment for hackenclub expanding into the UAE joining the efforts of keeping the blockchain secure with Dubai Blockchain Center and   Dr. Marwan Alzarouni. Stay tuned to learn more about all of our contributions in to the rapidly growing region.” The   collaboration will also include providing   mentoring, education on blockchain security and contributing to the development of regulatory requirements for project licensing. Hacken offers various solutions including smart contract audit, proof of reserves, and others. In February 2023, Hacken researchers identified a bug in the Binance zkSNARK-based Proof of Reserve

    The Saudi Venture Capital (SVC) has invested $30 million in the $150 million Bedaya Fund II, managed by UAE Shorooq Partners to back early-stage startups with a focus on fintech, digital assets, Web3, Metaverse, DeFi, and other areas. At the launch of Bedaya Fund II, in a press release Shane Shin founding partner at Shorooq Partners stated,   “We have always been early movers, be that robo-advisory, crowdfunding, SME lending, open banking, card issuer processing, and so forth. We believe Web 3.0 models like DeFi, NFT, Metaverse are going to be the key players in the next iteration of online business.” Bedaya Fund II is an early stage venture capital fund managed by Shorooq Partners. The fund is located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and invests in Northern Africa, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan. The fund targets investments in the fintech and software sectors. On Pitchbook they benchmark the Bedaya II fund against EchoVC Chain Blockchain

  In a recent press release, Bahrain has granted its first five Golden licenses and Whampoa Group,  a multi-family office with investments in global tech firms, and its digital bank has received one of these licenses. The holders of Golden licenses are eligible if they will create more than 500 local jobs, or make an investment of over $50 million in their first years in the Kingdom while contributing to strengthening the Kingdom's overall development. The Kingdom of Bahrain has granted the first five Golden Licenses to projects presented by Citi, Eagle Hills Diyar W.L.L, Infracorp, Saudi Telecommunication Company (stc), and Whampoa Group. With a collective investment of upwards of USD 1.4 billion into Bahrain, the greenfield projects and expansions are expected to create more than 1,400 job opportunities within the next three years in support of the Kingdom's Economic Recovery Plan goals. The licenses were presented at the headquarters of each company to Michel Sawaya, Ba

  The Blockchain Research Institute – Middle East (BRI-ME), the exclusive partner of The Blockchain Research Institute, an independent, global think tank, dedicated to exploring and sharing knowledge about the strategic implications of blockchain on business, government, and society co-founded by Dr Don and Alex Tapscott, has signed a partnership agreement with KSA based IR4LAB, a Saudi-based company specialized in disruptive technologies such as Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence, to develop and spread the blockchain adoption in Saudi Arabia and the MENA region. The signing ceremony was held under the auspices of the Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Communication and IT (MCIT) in Center of Digital Entrepreneurship (CODE) Riyadh headquarters. In attendance live from Canada was Dr Don Tapscott, well renowned global blockchain author and expert, and founder of BRI. Key representatives from several Saudi governmental and private entities were present including MCIT, Communications space

  UAE’s Registration Authority (RA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) has announced that it has taken enforcement actions against 10 Leaves Limited (10 Leaves), an ADGM-licensed company, and its three directors by imposing financial penalties amounting to USD 32,000 for a repeated failure to file annual accounts and reports by the statutory deadlines specified under the RA’s administered legislation. 10 Leaves was established in the ADGM, offering a breath of specialist consultancy services including blockchain, digital asset business setup in the UAE. They assist businesses to setup in the UAE. The RA found that 10 Leaves and its directors, Bishr Shiblaq, Rohit Ghai and Satidanand Auchoybur failed to submit statutory accounts and reports for the financial years ending 31 December 2020 and 31 December 2021 by the specified timelines. 10 Leaves and its directors failed to deliver consecutive accounts and reports to the RA by the statutory timelines despite reminders sent by the RA.