Binance Dubai general manager Alex Chehade said the UAE is a prime destination for crypto businesses seeking a clear path forward and noted its friendly stance toward digital assets.
“Binance identified that the senior leadership of the UAE wanted to establish the region as a focal point for Web3. They’re trying to diversify away from fossil fuels and they see [crypto] as a great driver for doing so,” said Chehade
Ultimately, the clear crypto regulations in the UAE make the region attractive to exchanges like Binance, which is currently wrestling with legal disputes from regulators in the U.S., including the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission.
Chehade noted the UAE’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority as a key driving force behind the surge of crypto-related interest in the region.
Beyond regulation, Chehade said the influx of young people moving to the UAE could see the region more rapidly adopt crypto than other digital asset hubs.
Merkle Science CEO Mriganka Pattnaik also praised the regulatory landscape in the UAE, noting that VARA, as the world’s first virtual asset-specific regulator, provides very detailed compliance guidelines for firms working under its purview.
“There’s more interaction with the private sector and regulators because it’s a smaller, early-stage ecosystem,” Pattnaik told Cointelegraph. “It’s also easier to hire teams in the UAE or just build out a team of 100 people, all of whom don’t come from the region.”
On February 7, VARA released its Full Market Product Regulations, which include four compulsory, activity-specific rulebooks that lay down the rules for virtual asset service providers operating in Dubai.
