Saudi Arabian Tuwaiq Investment Fund part of Jadwa Investment Fund has invested a substantial amount in OPNX tokenized crypto exchange for bankrupt crypto companies. KSA based Tuwaiq Investment Fund is a real estate opportunistic fund managed by Jadwa Investment yet as per OPNX they are also a digital asset fund. The statement was made in an OPNX tweet as they expressed their thanks to investors who had participated in the $25 million raise. As per the tweet, “As we approach the launch of claims for our first estate, Celsius, we'd like to express gratitude to everyone who believed in our mission of helping 20M+ claimants. A special thank you goes to our major investors, including AppWorks, Susquehanna (SIG), DRW, MIAX Group, Merchant Bank International, Token Bay Capital, Nascent, Tuwaiq Limited and many more.” The tweet goes on to state, “They contributed not just capital, but also incredible feedback throughout the process of refining our vision, product offerings, tokeno

  OPNX exchange, which was recently tagged by Dubai’s VARA (Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority) as not regulated in the UAE, has been rumored to have investors from Bahrain, in the form of the Bahrain sovereign wealth fund given it has recently raised $25 million. According to a   tweet by BitMEXcrypto exchange founder Arthur Hayes, “A little birdie told me that OPNX has raised big money from Bahrain Sovereign Wealth Fund. They are trading via Tai Ping Shan. Be Warned. I want my fucking money.” Bahrain's sovereign fund Mumtalakt website didn't show any investment in OPNX directly but it is noted that the sovereign fund is an investor in Al Waha Fund whose portfolio consists of venture capital funds which could have invested in OPNX given that some of them have invested in crypto and blockchain entities before.  OPNX exchange  aims to tokenize users' claims to bankrupted crypto companies, allowing them to use bankruptcy claims as collateral to trade perpetuals'.

    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

  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 industry. Corda power

  UAE Ghaf Labs, sister company of Ghaf Capital Partners, a premier blockchain consultancy and incubator firm based in the Middle East, focused on cultivating and fostering dynamic startups in the blockchain domain and Republic Crypto, a global blockchain firm that provides end-to-end white glove advisory services to accelerate the best crypto companies from seed to liquidity, have partnered in UAE to offer consulting, acceleration services to blockchain and Web3 entities in MENA. Obtaining a license from the DIFC in 2022, Republic Crypto is now extending its tech advisory services to the UAE market. This is the first step towards its plan to deliver its full stack of products and services with an intention to enrich and further develop the local and regional web 3 landscape. The company is also committed to contributing to the regional regulatory framework by collaborating with all relevant governmental entities, starting within the UAE. Republic Crypto is bringing its experience

    Bahrain Central Bank has announced the issuance of regulation for security tokens as amendments to its current crypto asset module. The Central Bank has expanded the crypto asset regulations to include digital token offerings, in specific those with the characteristics of security tokens. In determining whether a digital token qualifies as a security, the CBB will examine the underlying economic purpose of the digital token, its structure, characteristics, as well as the rights attached to the digital token. The new amendments also outline new requirements to enhance safeguarding clients’ assets to provide high levels of protection for investors. In addition the Central Bank of Bahrain will allow crypto-assets licensees (after obtaining the CBB’s approval) to engage in additional activities, which are not within the stipulated regulated crypto-asset services.   Commenting on the new amendments, Director of the Capital Markets Supervision Directorate – Mrs. Abeer Al Saad

  Sygnum, a global digital asset bank, has opened its Middle East hub in the Abu Dhabi Global Market international financial center to provide a portfolio of Swiss-regulated crypto banking services after receiving its license from UAE ADGM.  Sygnum Bank Middle East has received a Financial Services Permission (FSP) from the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), following its in-principle approval in October 2022. Seasoned Middle East Executive, Giulia Finkbeiner-Bertoni, leads Sygnum’s operations across the region and opens the office in the ADGM International Financial Centre. Sygnum Bank Middle East will offer personal, concierge-style client service, enabling convenient local client access to a portfolio of Swiss-regulated digital asset banking, asset management, tokenization and B2B banking services. With regional demand for regulated crypto services on the rise, clients will be drawn from a diverse range of sectors, ranging from existin

    Digital Dubai, announced recently that it has adopted soulbound token technology, considered the advanced version of NFTs (Non Fungible tokens). Digital Dubai has used soulbound tokens to issue the world’s first digital certificates. Utilizing soulbound tokens, certificates can be permanently linked to the person’s account in their digital wallet. Ownership of the certificate cannot be transferred to any other person, sold, or disposed of; however, it can be verified by any party if needed. This means the certificate is highly secure, and therefore does not need to be attested by any third party, making it intrinsically trusted. . The Dubai Cyber Innovation Park (DCIPark) ,an affiliate of the Dubai Electronic Security Center) at Digital Dubai , granted the first Secure Digital Certificate to the first cohort of graduates from the CISO Executive program with the participation of   17   Government and Semi-Governmental entities. This certificate marks the first-ever use case of

  KSA born Nuqtah NFT marketplace has signed an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Saudi Telecom group (STC) to tokenize photographs from stc’s Sarha project and mint them in the form of non-fungible assets exclusively on the Nuqtah NFT marketplace. As per the blog, STC is committed to delivering the best customers experience through its advanced technology and innovative solutions. Sarha, the world's first content-generating camel, is set to take its viewers on a journey of discovery. The camel travelled around Saudi Arabia in tandem with the most skilled photographers, capturing stunning images and videos that will be shared with the world. Sarha's journey will take its viewers further than ever before with the broadest network and widest coverage. This unique project provided by stc  has be used to create amazing experiences for people all over the world. As such Nuqtah and stc have come together to create a unique collaboration that will bring the world of photo

Born in the USA and raised in Beirut Lebanon until she was a teenager, Nadine Chakar, a US national of Lebanese origin, later attended university in the US. Her parent are both doctors yet Nadine is a well renowned financial and technology executive and is recognized as one of the most powerful women in finance. She has been a vocal champion for using tech to revolutionize financial services.  Nadine Chakar will be joining Securrency, a leading developer of institutional-grade, blockchain-based financial and regulatory technology, as Chief Executive Officer effective January 9th, 2023. Ms. Chakar brings over 30 years of experience in global wealth and asset management to Securrency. Most recently, she served as Executive Vice President and Head of State Street Digital, where she built and led the team that is helping State Street, institutional investors, and regulators successfully navigate the bank's transition into a modern digital economy. Ms. Chakar also led State Street Globa

  In 2022, it appears there is a high level of public interest from the number of online keyword searches for crypto, crypto payments, blockchain, metaverse, NFTs and other related terms. These keywords, for instance, are the top searches in Arab countries. This comes as no surprise as nations in the MENA region were among the list of countries receiving crypto, with the greater region becoming one of the regions that saw the most growth in crypto regulations. According to Chainalysis, while the MENA region is one of the smallest crypto markets, its growth to $566 billion received in cryptocurrency between July 2021 and June 2022 shows adoption is rising rapidly. UAE places 10 th for highest search regions for ‘crypto’ As per Google Trends , there were high inquiries for the term “crypto” in the country from December 2021 to December 2022. The high volume of searches for “crypto” in the Arab state placed it at 10th, followed by Morocco at 11th place, Lebanon (17th) and Tunisia (

  Qatar's World Cup 2022 is a first in many ways. It is not only the first to be held in an Arab country but also the first to have crypto and blockchain sponsors, namely Algorand and Crypto.com, and the first to introduce fan tokens, NFTs, and metaverse experiences. Consequently, these actions have spurred the market capitalization of fan tokens to $300 million at the onset of the World Cup according to CoinGecko . Fan tokens for FIFA World Cup 2022 NFT Collection was launched with Algorand blockchain technology. FIFA fans now have the opportunity to attend the tournaments and enjoy a VIP experience thanks to the official digital collectibles. In this sense, they are one of the first utility NFTs in the World Cup space. Costing as low as $4.99, 216,862 packs had been claimed by Nov. 23 from the FIFA+ Collect website out of a collection of 532,980 packs, which include 1,593,480 NFTs. Users can purchase packs using credit cards or USDC-A on the Algorand network. Moreover, the

  In the past week, UAE’s Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) has signed two partnership agreements with Gold tokenization entities. DMCC signed an MOU with Asian digital gold platform, SafeGold, to develop an ecosystem in the MENA for gold backed digital certificates starting from the UAE and then spreading across MENA. The MENA region is home to a $20 billion gold market. Gold is a high-growth industry in the UAE; according to the World Gold Council, UAE gold consumption surged by 57 percent in 2021. As per the announcement Gold bars will be physically stored in secure vaults, and verified by warrants issued on DMCC’s Tradeflow platform, a transparent central registry of ownership for gold and commodities stored in UAE facilities. The digital certificates that are backed by gold can then be traded on SafeGold’s platform, providing investors with greater levels of transparency and confidence. Gaurav Mathur, Founder and MD, SafeGold, noted that the UAE is an ideal hub for a glo