Subscribe Subscribe ALBAWABA – General Manager of Binance Dubai Alex Chehade said Monday that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is poised to become the world’s next major crypto hub. Also Read Bitcoin jumps to highest level in June trading session Crypto exchange Coinbase Global is also considering the UAE as an international hub of operations, Bloomberg reported, back in May. Binance and Coinbase are both struggling with a slew of enforcement actions by regulators in the United States (US), news and media outlets reported.
Speaking to Cointelegraph, Binance Dubai’s Chehade said the UAE is a prime destination for crypto businesses looking for a clear a path forward. He further highlighted that the UAE has adopted a positive position towards crypto 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, as reported by Cointelegraph. Binance is wrestling with various legal disputes with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission. Chehade noted the UAE’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) as a key driving force behind the surge of crypto-related interest in the Emirates.
“There’s a clear framework for people and businesses to engage with, whereas you’re just not seeing as much of that elsewhere,” he said. Beyond regulation, Chehade said that the flow of youth into the UAE is setting the Emirates up for more rapid adoption of crypto, compared to other digital asset hubs. “The two key drivers are that lots of expatriates are moving here from Europe and Asia, and the overall demographic is younger as well — and we know that younger people have a more favorable mindset when it comes to virtual assets,” he explained.
Binance and Coinbase are both struggling with a slew of enforcement actions by regulators in the US – Source: Shutterstock Merkle Science CEO Mriganka Pattnaik agreed with Chehade. “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,” he highlighted.
On February 7, VARA released its Full Market Product Regulations. These regulations include four mandatory, activity-specific rulebooks, which lay down the rules for virtual asset service providers operating in Dubai. Coinbase is also “looking for a home to set up an international hub that could serve the long tail of countries in the world,” Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong told Bloomberg TV in May.
The UAE is well positioned to expand and serve markets in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, he said. Regulators in the UAE are ahead of the US, Armstrong said. “I would say that the UAE’s approach has been more forward thinking than the US,” he added.
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URL: https://www.albawaba.com/business/binance-dubai-coinbase-eye-uae-next-major-crypto-hub-1524399