In Checkout.com’s third annual report on digital transformation in MENA for 2022, it found that e-commerce in the UAE had settled into a stable high growth era. The report states that consumers in the UAE are turning to their digital devices and spending more time and money online. Even payment methods are evolving in the UAE with more turning to crypto and digital wallets. The report confirms that 42 percent of 18-40 year olds in the UAE have held digital assets such as crypto, stablecoins and NFTs, and 59 percent of 18-40 year olds would like to be able to pay for goods and services in crypto or stablecoins in the next 12 months.  The digital transformation in MENA 2022 report draws insights from a regional survey which polled more than 15,500 consumers in August 2022 in the UAE, KSA, Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Pakistan. 96 percent of UAE consumers now shop ecommerce, an increase from 89% from last year. This comes as a testament to the continued consumer demand o...

  Binance crypto exchange saw a 49 percent growth in the number of users from MENA region in 2022. As per the news this reflects the growing appetite for virtual assets. In addition Binance has grown its employee base in Dubai alone to over 400 employees.   This comes as Binance recently obtained its Minimal Viable Product (MVP) license from Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) which allows the company to offer a range of approved virtual asset related services to suitably qualified retail and institutional investors in Dubai. Richard Teng, Regional Head of MENA at Binance, comments, “It is extremely encouraging to see this level of growth in the MENA region, not just in terms of user adoption but also in terms of headcount and new employees in our own teams, particularly in the UAE. We are witnessing rapid adoption of blockchain technology in the region and we believe there is huge potential for the UAE to soon become a leading virtual asset hub.” He adds, ...

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) has become the 10th bank to join Blockchain trade finance platform UAE Trade Connect (UTC), developed by e& enterprise, formerly Etisalat Digital. As per the news this will support ADIB’s digital transformation strategy while boosting the transparency and security of its services. The bank will utilize the UTC platform for the detection of fraud and dubious transactions in the trade finance segment, according to a press release.   Faisal Abu Shaar, Group Chief Risk Officer at ADIB, said: “With the goal of supporting UAE’s economic development, we will work closely with UTC and other member banks to enhance our digital capabilities and promote the security of the country’s financial sector. We look forward to capitalizing on the opportunities of this agreement to deliver safe and completely transparent banking solutions for our customers.”   Meanwhile Zulqarnain Javaid, CEO of UTC, added “ADIB is an important bank in the corporate ban...

  As per a recent Chainalysis blog report, MENA based crypto users received $566 billion worth of cryptocurrency in one year from July 2021 to June 2022. As per the news, this is a 48 percent increase from 2020-2021. In addition Turkey, Egypt and Morocco once again lead not only in MENA region but globally. All three countries are in the top thirty list of countries with most crypto savings, usage of crypto for remittance payments and permissive crypto regulations. These could be caused by these countries’ fiat currency devaluations and the huge remittance market in Egypt for example. This is why Egypt has become the fastest growing crypto market in 2022, while Turkey still remains the largest crypto market with its citizens receiving $192 billion. The report also notes the role of countries in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), and cites the example of Saudi Arabia which is the third largest crypto market in MENA, while UAE stands at fifth largest. This is especially true...

  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...

    Dubai based Ultron Foundation, a Blockchain DeFi entity is sponsoring the Future Blockchain Summit being organized by DWTC in partnership with VARA (Virtual assets Regulatory Authority) from October 10-13 th 2022 Ultron CEO, Shukhrat Shadibekov, stated, “We highly respect the people behind the Future Blockchain Summit. It is a brilliant idea to gather Blockchain companies and give them a venue where they can explore and share innovations (to fellow experts and enthusiasts) in the ever-evolving tech industry. We are happy to be included here, as the fastest growing layer-1 blockchain company is an honor for Ultron Foundation.” Ultron will discuss at Gitex the latest developments in NFT and metaverse as well as the utility of Ultron’s Blockchain network. The Ultron Football Metaverse project with Devla will be launched in the coming months. It will allow the players to play, strategize, and earn passive rewards. The features and the structure of the game give much a...

  Binance Pay is once again being used in the UAE to buy products using cryptocurrencies. UAE based Bikeera, a retailer for bicycles, scooters, electric mobility vehicles has teamed up with Binance Pay to offer virtual asset payment services. Bikeera says the move aims to help reduce GHG emissions, carbon footprint and improve the health and lifestyle of GCC residents. Purchasers can pay in BNB, Bitcoin and Ethereum. Already Majid Al Futtaim, Virtuzone, Palazzo Versace, EazyPay and others are using Binance Pay in the region. Anthony Boukather, CEO of Bikeera, stated, “Bikeera aims to provide sustainable mobility alternatives that promote a healthy lifestyle and a better planet. By partnering up with Binance, we are giving more flexibility to customers in terms of payment methods. We are proud to have been selected as one of the first companies in this program, and would like to congratulate Binance on their recent announcement about receiving the MVP license from Dubai’s Virt...

  At one point in all of our lives, we have either deleted important messages we received by accident, or lost all our whatsapp conversations, and maybe even wished we knew how to find an important message on discord, telegram, or even a Web3 communication app we were using.   Well this has now been resolved with the advent of a Web3 blockchain enabled, ‘Eternal Message’ Today more than 3 billion people worldwide are using messaging apps, sending an average of 145 billion messages every day. While the majority of these messages are insignificant, some are very important to those sending and receiving them. While Web3 messaging apps have come to resolve the issues of security and privacy, as well as offer fully encrypted and stored messages on the blockchain, yet none of them has thought about eternally capturing those we deem important so we can retrieve them easily later on. In an interview with LaraontheBlock Mohamed Abdou Founder and CEO of Egyptian headquartered and ...

  KSA’s Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Developer will drop a limited number of utility NFTs ( Non   fungible tokens) for its Oman AIDA project. The comments were made in an interview with AGBI media. The $1.6 billion project AIDA, is the largest premium, mixed-use urban developments in Oman. It is a partnership between Dar Al Arkan and the Oman Tourism Development Company (OMRAN Group) to drive the development of the Gulf state’s property market and support the growth of Oman’s real estate sector as part of Oman Vision 2040. Ziad El Chaar, vice chairman of Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Development, said in the interview , “We are dropping 500 NFTs in the middle of October, which are utility tokens for our project AIDA in Oman.   If you are a holder of that NFT, you have a priority in booking in any launch of the project. This has a lot of value. He added that those who booked in Dar Al Arkan Pagani project in December made 25 percent profit as prices went up. The NFT will a...

  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 Ara...

  UAE virtual asset regulator in Abu Dhabi,   FSRA (Financial Services Regulatory Authority) of ADGM ( Abu Dhabi Global Market) has enhanced its capital markets framework, allowing for the trading of NFTs   (Non Fungible tokens) on virtual asset regulated platforms, This means that MTFs/Custodians (Multilateral trading Facilities) operating within ADGM are now able to seek approval from the FSRA to engage in Non-Fungible Token (NFT) activities. As per the news, these are considered significant enhancements to its capital markets framework, across spot commodities, securities, derivatives, benchmarks, environmental instruments and virtual assets that will further improve on its innovative and progressive regime and leadership in financial markets. Alongside its innovative approach to virtual assets, the ADGM has now implemented its regulatory framework for spot commodity and environmental instrument activities, making it the first international financial centre in...

  Abu Dhabi’s ADQ and Further Ventures, an investment firm back by ADQ have launched a $200 million fund focused on Fintech, digital assets and supplychain. As per the news, entrepreneurs and experienced executives who choose to launch their next venture with Further will have access to product and engineering resources for concept development; seed capital required to take the business to Series A; and reserved capital for following on through multiple rounds of funding beyond capital investment. Further ventures also has a dedicated team that provides legal and regulatory support, talent sourcing and recruitment, operations, and business development expertise with access to some of the largest organizations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region as well as venture builders globally, as part of Further’s extensive network. Further is focused on building, digital asset payments products, blockchain asset custody, security solutions, marketplaces, wallets and other ...

  UAE Central Bank officials have called for a comprehensive regulatory framework for central digital currencies that would facilitate, accelerate and reduce the cost of cross border monetary operations. The call came during UAE's Central Bank participation at the fifth International Financial Architecture (IFA) Working Group meeting within the G20 Finance Track for 2022, which was held in a hybrid format on 22nd and 23rd September 2022. Thiscomes after The Innovation Hub of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, BIS (Bank of International Settlements) and the Central Bank of the UAE announced on twitter the completion of the first CBDC pilot involving real value transactions and four jurisdictions, using mBridge, custom developed DLT platform. As per the tweet, 20 banks participated in the final CBDC pilot, with over 160 transfers and FX exchanges carried out, totaling $171 million HK dollars ( $22 million)  in transfers and FX exchanges and $91 HK million in issuances equiva...

  Ahmed al Marjeby and Mahmood al Lawati have developed a blockchain enabled digital identity platform out of Oman. Nashid, the blockchain enabled digital identity platform is aimed to mitigate the risks of identity fraud. Nashid has  also secured a pre-seed investment as part of the Techween program from Oman Technology Fund As per the news, Oman based Nashid will allow users to access services digitally without visiting any service provider ever again. In 2020 alone, identity theft and fraud cost over $700 billion in losses worldwide The platform will allow the creation of a secure digital version of one’s identity and their attributes. The need for in-person verifications will cease, usernames and passwords will disappear, and a frictionless, online-only user journey will take place. Nashid is powered by the Blockchain to maintain the truth of all digital interactions with high levels of online security and credibility. It also is fueled by encryption models of hash...

  Moroccan Arab singer, dubbed “Al Mualem”, meaning the teacher, Saad LAMajarred and Arab Super star Ragheb Alama will be holding the first ever Arab joint music concert in the metaverse. The two well renowned Arabic singers announced that they would be holding their upcoming concert in the metaverse in collaboration with famous Arab composer Michel Fadel. The concert will be held on the 20 th of October 2022, organized by Metaboundless. Metaboundless is a Web3.0 platform that connects creators and creator IP with fans to produce and scale creator content. MetaBoundless in partnership with Karma Return Opportunities, a regulated Web3.0 asset manager run helps creators generate attractive returns while preserving capital. Tickets will be sold in the form of NFTs (Non Fungible tokens). A tutorial on how to purchase the tickets is present on the Metaboundless website . Blockchain platform AlGorand is the exclusive blockchain partner for the event along with famous Arab Cartoo...

  Bahrain EazyPay, a payments solution provider,  has partnered with Binance's Binance Pay to launch a regulated and approved crypto payments service offering in the Kingdom. Nayef Tawfiq Al Alawi, Founder, MD & CEO of Eazy in Bahrain stated on LinkedIn ,   “Now you can pay in stores with any preferred Cryptocurrency using Binance App.   A special thanks goes to Central Bank of Bahrain, Binance and Eazy Financial Services B.S.C (Closed) teams."  ‎ ‏ Eazy Financial Services “EazyPay”, a  Bahraini financial institute specialized in Point-of-Sale (POS) & Online Payment Gateway Acquiring services licensed & regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain, has partnered with Binance, to offer crypto   payments using “Binance Pay” over “EazyPay”   across 5000+ Point-of- Sale (POS) Terminals & Online Payment gateways in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Merchants such as ‎ ‏ Lulu Hypermarket, Sharaf DG and Al Zain Jewellery as well as local favori...

  eToro,   social investment networks   has received an In-Principle Approval to operate as a securities, derivatives and crypto broker in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The Financial Services Permission from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), approval will enable eToro to establish a base from which to offer its services to customers across the region.   eToro allows users to view other investors’ portfolios and statistics, and interact with them to exchange ideas, discuss strategies, and benefit from shared knowledge. Users can hold traditional assets such as equities, currencies, ETFs, or commodities, alongside newer assets like cryptoassets. eToro also offers its users a choice of how to invest, as users can trade directly themselves, invest in a portfolio, or replicate the investment strategy of other investors on eToro’s platform at no extra cost, with a single click. Arvind Ramamurthy, Chief of Markets at ADGM, said, “We ar...

  Binance, crypto exchange has received its Minimal Viable Product (MVP) license from Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA). Local bank clients approved by VARA will be able to utilize the Binance platform. Users will benefit from higher consumer protection levels because Binance is now a fully regulated platform in Dubai. Binance is now able to open a client money account with a UAE local bank and provide services to qualified customers. Services include, virtual asset exchange services, conversion between virtual assets and fiat currencies, transfer of virtual assets, custody and management of virtual assets, virtual token offering and trading services and virtual assets payments and remittance services His Excellency Helal Saeed Almarri, Chairman of VARA said, “We are pleased to have Binance licensed to operate within the VARA MVP Programme. The VARA regime aims to strike an effective balance between value creation and risk mitigation, enabling open market innova...

  Nasdaq has launched its Digital Assets business unit that as they note will power the digital asset ecosystem. Nasdaq aims to provide trusted and institutional-grade solutions, focused on enhanced custody, liquidity and integrity.   Adena Friedman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Nasdaq stated, “Nasdaq Digital Assets builds upon the successful solutions we have introduced in recent years to serve the digital assets ecosystem, including marketplace technology for digital asset exchanges, crypto-native anti-financial crime offerings, and crypto-related index solutions for tradable products. The technology that underpins the digital asset ecosystem has the potential to transform markets over the long-term. To deliver on that opportunity, our focus will be to provide institutional-grade solutions that bring greater liquidity, integrity, and transparency to support the evolution.”   Nasdaq Digital Assets will initially develop an advanced custody solution that...

  Saudi Arabian Taajeer Group, the exclusive agent for MG cars in the Kingdom has utilized the Blockchain enabled Contour platform in its importing of cars from China. HSBC, Chinese SAIC Motor, and KSA Taajeer group executed a successful blockchain enabled trade finance transaction on the Contour platform. As per the news this is a regional first for the automotive sector and a first in KSA. Contour is a digital trade finance network that is building a global standard for trade by bringing together the world's banks, corporates and ecosystem partners, onto a common, digital, and trusted network. The Contour platform enabled end-to-end digitisation of the credit documentation required for Taajeer to import a shipment of cars from SAIC in a process that is up to 10 times faster than using physical documents.   Chaker Zeraiki, Head of Global Trade & Receivables Finance for HSBC UAE, said: “Our digitising at scale means making customers’ lives easier and, with Contour ...