Dubai regulated virtual asset broker and exchange TOKO FZE a creation of international law firm DLA Piper, has partnered with   Virtuzone, a pioneer in business solutions and corporate services for the region. The partnership will include the establishment of a tokenized equity crowd funding platform will further cement Dubai’s standing at the forefront of financial innovative and as a destination for early stage and fast growth companies seeking a supportive business environment. TOKO has just received a fully operational license from Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA). The partnership with Virtuzone is set to transform early-stage private equity fund raising using blockchain technology to bring enhanced transparency, accessibility, and opportunity for both investors and the businesses seeking to raise funds. Across a variety of compelling businesses, investors will have greater insight, information and access to private equities for their portfolio and the expec

    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

  IslamicCoin, issued by HAQQ Blockchain ( Haqq means truth in Arabic), which is Shariah compliant has raised another $200 million from Alpha Blue Ocean’s ABO Digital. As such the total funding now stands at $400 million. The founders of Haqq Network include two prominent UAE banking experts. The network aim to cater to the world’s 1.9 billion Muslims. IslamicCoin was presented at the UN’s Cop27 in Egypt and was recognized as the Most Promising ESG Crypto at the Abu Dhabi Blockchain Awards, the Executive Team has received unwavering international support from both private investors, funds as well as the financial world. The latest partnership will entail introducing Islamic Coin to the ABO network of investors and helping the team structure innovative Shariah-compliant financial products that could be used in the digital asset space to raise alternative funding. The deal provides for access to a maximum of $200M as and when required and ensures Islamic Coin has a long and stable ru

  DWF ( Digital Wave Finance) Labs a crypto investment firm, based out of UAE, has invested $1 million into LABEL Foundation, a Korean Based blockchain entity revolutionizing the music industry.  The investment will be used to foster the development of their pioneering Dapp TRACKS and to expand their user base by bringing innovative solutions to the market. This is the third round for LABEL Foundation. Previously it raised funds from eBest Investment & Securities and Groom investments. This allowed LABEL to launch their Listen and Earn TRACKS decentralized application.  LABEL believes that this revolutionary application has enormous prospects not just for artists but also listeners who want to contribute to the revenue flow of music and help make this sector more profitable DWF Labs Managing Partner Andrei Grachev conveyed his enthusiasm for LABEL Foundation’s quest to promote innovation in the music business, stating “Their Listen-and-Earn TRACKS dApp is an exciting opportunity th

  UK investment company InfoDriver Capital is launching a $10 million fund for DeFi, GameFi and AI startups targeting UAE, UK, Europe and USA. The company has expertise in supply chain solutions, automated lending platforms, exchanges, DeFi, and AI applications including digital identity, authentication, content generation, and has already developed successful technology products over seven years. InfoDriver Capital anticipates a 3-5x return on investment in just 2-4 years and is currently seeking experienced and accredited investors with a minimum investment requirement of $100,000. The investment strategy charges only 5% investments and diversifies the total portfolio of the startups from Seed to A round with a working revenue model and user base. According to Kirill Mishanin, CEO and Founder of InfoDriver Capital stated, “Investing in startups in the Web3 space is a wise decision, as it is the future of the internet. InfoDriver Capital is committed to shaping that future by su

  Crypto payment startup FLUUS ( which means money in Arabic) founded by MENA crypto enthusiasts has raised $600,000 ahead of its beta launch. FHS Capital, Base 64 and a number of angel investors participated in the raise. FLUUS is creating a fiat-crypto on- and off-ramp that will give consumers access to web3 services including token swapping and staking. Its payment solution is designed to eliminate friction and simplify the process of entering and exiting the crypto economy. Funds raised from the seed round will be used to further develop products and roll out FLUUS’ services, bringing crypto-fiat payments to a global audience. “We are excited to have the support of FHS Capital and Encryptus.io, two highly reputable investment firms,” said Tey El-Rjula, co-founder and CEO of FLUUS. “Their experience and resources will be invaluable as we continue to grow and scale our business to provide financial technology solutions to onboard the next billion into web3.” Dr. Fady and Mr.

    Once again UAE’s DMCC, the free zone for commodities trading has partnered to offer Web3, Blockchain businesses with a $5 million growth platform. This is not the first partnership in this regards and it seems it won’t be the last. Millions of dollars are being poured in for crypto, blockchain and Web entities in DMCC.  Digital Wave Finance Labs, a multi stage web3 investment firm will work with DMCC will establish the DWF Ventures Studio, which will support nascent web3 and blockchain businesses using the DMCC Crypto Centre and Dubai as a hub from which they can scale their operations locally, regionally and globally. The partnership was announced during the “Sunset Meet and Greet” event organized by DWF Labs on 24 February 2023 in Dubai. The DWF Venture Studio will provide multiple benefits for early-stage startups based in DMCC, including consultancy services, increased connection to global venture capital, market making services on tier one and two exchanges, a range of

    Alea Global Group will be holding their edition of Alea Sessions in Riyadh KSA. The one day gathering under the theme ‘The New Opportunities in Investment in the New Saudi Arabia’ will gather 100 of the GCC and MENA region’s top family offices. The event will include a session on Blockchain in Trade Finance. Alea Global Group is a conglomerate single family business formed in 1998 in the State of Kuwait owned by a member of Al Duaij family. The one day event will discuss private debts and CLOs, trade finance, mezzanine debt, open banking, micro and macro banking environments, and Saudi Arabia’s unicorns. The Alea Sessions is a series of irregular but responsive events held by Alea Group Group which are held when there is a need to address important topics that need to be addressed and which our followers would like to talk about. These events are usually shorter than their Family Office Summits, with a more focused programme. They may occur anywhere in the world, and also o

  US based Tykhe Block Ventures which recently raises $30 million for its Blockchain growth fund is allocating $10 million of that to Blockchain and Web3 start-ups in MENA region. Tykhe Block Ventures (part of Heru Finance) is a blockchain-centric multi-strategy fund established in Wyoming, USA. The fund invests in ventures within the Web 3.0/ blockchain sector with a focus on decentralization technologies, digital assets, and their key enabling infrastructure. The fund has invested in 25+ blockchain projects including dWalletLabs, Trust Machines, FanTiger, and RMRK. The fund is led by Prashant Malik, well-regarded in the technology world as the Inventor of Cassandra (Now Apache Cassandra). He is also one of the top angel investors in SEA (50+ investments, 8 unicorns). As per their LinkedIn post the company states it is thrilled to announce the first close of our $30 Mn Blockchain Growth Fund. In addition, Tykhe is also in the process of setting up an office in Dubai UAE and

  During a Bloomberg TV interview at WEF Davos event, Mansoor Al Mahmoud, CEO, of Qatar Investment Authority, reaffirmed the fund's interest in investing in Blockchain technology, more precisely any application using Blockchain. Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund will use the current economic turmoil as an opportunity to rebalance its $450 billion portfolio. The Qatar Investment Authority is looking for opportunities in Europe, Asia and the US in sectors such as venture capital, fintech and sports except for crypto. As Al Mahmoud stated, “We are still not interested in crypto, yet we are interested in investing in Blockchain technology. Any application using Blockchain would be of our interest. This is a technology that came to remain. The QIA in October agreed to invest $2.5 billion in RWE AG to back the German utility’s purchase of US renewable assets. It was also a cornerstone investor in sports car brand Porsche AG’s IPO and has invested in a string of tech start-ups. Qatar

  In what seems to be a great start for Blockchain and Web3 ecosystem in the MENA region, the first $1 billion fund was announced by UAE based Venom Foundation and Iceberg Capital under Venom Ventures Fund. As per the press release , Venom Ventures Fund is allocating $1 billion to invest in Web3, blockchain and cryptocurrency projects and services. This is the first $1 billion fund for Web3 and Blockchain to originate from the MENA region. Prior to this UAE Cypher Capital had announced its allocation of $200 million for Blockchain, Web3 and Crypto at the end of 2022 and Shurooq Partners had allocated $150 million for the same. Venom Foundation is the first Layer-1 blockchain licensed and regulated by the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). In October 2022, Venom Foundation added a regulated virtual asset exchange to its roster. The UAE based exchange formerly known as Yoshi Markets was re-names to Venomex. Venomex had received financial services permission from FSRA at ADGM allowing

  The second annual conference Decipher, by the Algorand Foundation is being held today until the 30 th of November at Madinat Jumeirah Conference & Events Centre in Dubai, UAE.   The Algorand Foundation's mission is to grow and empower the ecosystem around Algorand-the leading carbon-negative Layer-1 blockchain-and Decipher's programming will highlight top founders and investors from both within and beyond the Algorand network. The event will witness more   than 120 speakers across four stages and 50 sessions. Registrants will also be able to sign up for one-on-one mentoring with blockchain leaders, learn to set up wallets and experience play-to-earn games, explore a high-end curated NFT art gallery, take part in hands-on workshops designed for developers and led by the engineers and product leaders behind the Algorand protocol, and more. Topics include Financial Inclusion at Scale: A World Tour featuring Sanzar Kakar, Founder of HesabPay; Victor Mapunga, Co-Founder &

  As per a recent news report Standard Chartered backed institutional cryptocurrency exchange and brokerage firm focused on institutions, is expanding into Abu Dhabi in 2023. Abu Dhabi will be Zodia Markets first presence in the MENA region as it targets growth opportunities. Zodia went live in July 2022 in the United Kingdom. U.K.-based Zodia Markets is a sister company of Zodia Custody, the digital assets safekeeping platform. Both firms share the same majority shareholder in SC Ventures, the venture arm of Standard Chartered. At the time of its launch in UK the firm, was granted Financial Conduct Authority approval, with spot trading of bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH).  Zodia Markets has drafted an application to operate in Abu Dhabi but plans to submit a new one in early 2023 after extended talks with regulators. Chief executive Usman Ahmad told Financial News London that Abu Dhabi is attractive because it has been “forward-looking with respect to putting the regulatory framework in

    It is not surprising that a Blockchain Fintech startup such as Abu Dhabi based Pyypl would raise $20 million in its Series B round from new and existing investors. Since its inception UAE based Pyypl with offices out of Hub71, has not only advocated financial inclusion but has built its technology to ensure it. It was name the one of the top 37 crypto startups to watch in 2022 by Techround UK. About 22 per cent of the GCC's population is unbanked, compared with 60 per cent in North Africa, according to a report by consultancy Strategy&. Blockchain enabled Pyypl provides digital payments and financial services for all smartphone users to carry out online transactions, without the need for a bank account or credit card.   Pyypl uses advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) for regulatory compliance, Anti Money Laundering (AML) and Counter Terrorism Financing (CTF). They are a full blockchain-native financial services backend-platform, having dev

  Capex.com, which already holds a brokerage license in Abu Dhabi’s ADGM FSRA has now been granted an in principle approval for a cryptocurrency license from Abu Dhabi Global Markets. CAPAX.com’s Founder and CEO, Octavian Pătrașcu, revealed that the new license will strengthen the brokerage platform’s cryptocurrency offerings in the lucrative Middle East and the North Africa (MENA) region. He stated on LinkedIN , “We are happy that we can start this new vertical under Capex.com and become closer to our main goal of offering a powerhouse of trading for our users, under one roof.” Crypto approval came in addition to the broker’s existing license from the ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), gained in 2020, with which it offers traditional trading instruments. Capex platform's offerings are primarily trading services with forex and contracts for differences (CFDs) instruments of other popular asset classes. The platform quickly added crypto products as well, with

  Amidst what some might consider as bearish markets especially for the crypto mining industry given high energy prices and decreased value in crypto markets, UAE’s crypto mining hardware retailer, Phoenix Technology is investing $300 million in crypto mining sites across the globe. As per recent news, Phoenix Technology is developing a large scale site in the United States which will be launched in Q2 of 2023. The site will utilize the latest mining technologies including immersive cooling. Carl Agren, CEO of Phoenix Technology, stated, “Phoenix Technology is aiming to switch from a regional player in the mining space to a global one. In other words, developing, maintaining, and operating sites all around the world. We have been currently focusing on the North American markets, mainly the US and Canada. However, we are planning on setting foot in other regions to try to identify opportunities in untapped mining areas. We are devoting $300 million to be invested in different sites

  Crypto mining is an integral part of the development of crypto economies. As the MENA region opens up its economy to digitization and crypto-related activities and as the world is challenged by an ongoing energy crisis, MENA is probing to become an attractive destination for crypto mining. While the biggest crypto mining markets are currently in the USA, China, Kazakhstan and Canada, the energy crisis and the crypto bear market could help the GCC become a leading crypto mining hub. Mohamed El Masri, founder and CEO of Permianchain, which operates Bitcoin mining data centers in Canada using wasted energy, states, “The adoption and implementation of blockchain data center infrastructure can support the digital stability and financial security of the GCC region. Hypothetically, the GCC has the opportunity to attract close to $1.0 trillion in economic growth by laying the groundwork for powering the digital economy.” El Masri confirms the main challenge is calling out the financial regul

  UAE Mubadala Capital, a wholly owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi sovereign fund Mubadala, is sponsoring for the first time a crypto event in the United Kingdom. Mubadala Capital, global asset managers with a presence in Abu Dhabi UAE, London, New York, Rio de Janeiro, and San Francisco, manages over $16 billion worth of assets. Mubadala Capital is participating as a bronze sponsor at the Token 2049 event in London. While Mubadala Capital commenced operations in November 2021 as a subsidiary, it had been investing for over a decade. The wholly owned asset management is focused on investing in disruptive technologies. The company had grown significantly in scale over the past decade, with $9 billion in third-party capital vehicles on behalf of over 50 institutional investors. While Mubadala Capital has a strong portfolio of investments in companies across the sports media and entertainment sector including EMI Music Publishing, Endeavour Group Holdings, Reigning Champs, Ultimate Figh

  The chairman of Belobaba, a crypto native hedge fund with a regulated security token, believes that Banks will become Dapps, and that this was the year of building crypto not a bearish year. Five year old, Belobaba utilizes big data and AI in its investment decisions… The company is currently setting up its headquarters in the UAE as it seeks to get regulated in GCC region. The hedge fund is already regulated by the Gibraltar Financial services commission and operating legally in the USA, as well as in Spain and Estonia. Lluís Mas, chairman at BELOBABA spoke to LaraontheBlock expressing his views on the crypto market,the banking sector and why they are setting up their headquarters in UAE. The hedge fund which currently has just $5 million under management is seeking to grow and expand. According to Mas, “I don’t consider it a bad year for crypto and I wouldn’t call it a bullish or bearish market, because just remember in the bearish markets of 2017-2019 Uniswap was created as

  Kevin O’ Leary, nicknamed "Mr. Wonderful",  a Canadian businessman, entrepreneur, and television personality and an advocate of cryptocurrency stated that he recently became a UAE citizen because he wants to work freely in a region that has attracted investment by some of crypto’s heaviest hitters, including FTX, Binance and Crypto.com This came as he announced at Converge22 Blockchain and cryptocurrency conference that he was launching a Web3.0 investment fund called Cipher with the lead investor coming from the UAE. As he noted on stage, “We’ve got to get away from this speculative price of an asset here. We’ve got to find reasons that this technology gets embedded into the economy.” He went on to say, “I recently became a citizen of the United Arab Emirates to work freely in a region that has attracted investment by some of crypto’s heaviest hitters, including exchanges FTX, Binance and Crypto.com. The new all-Web3 fund’s lead investor comes from the United Arab Em