Dubai World Trade Center to Become Crypto Zone and Regulator

As the cryptocurrency industry progresses towards a mainstream adoption stage, Dubai, one of the seven emirates in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), also continues to solidify its position as one of the top crypto-friendly jurisdictions in the world.

DWTC to Become Crypto Zone

In a recent update from the nation, Dubai authorities have declared that the Dubai World Trade Center (DWTC), a government-owned event and exhibition venue, will soon become a comprehensive zone and regulator for digital assets, including crypto assets, products, operators, and exchanges.

The initiative is geared toward promoting mass adoption of crypto by designing a “comprehensive ecosystem” for the rapidly growing industry. It aims to work with the private sector and other important entities needed to make crypto accessible and more secure for residents.

“The Dubai World Trade Center will collaborate with the private sector and relevant entities in Dubai to create an attractive environment for the sector and enforce rigorous standards for investor protection, Anti Money Laundering (AML), Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) compliance and cross border deal flow tracing,” the Dubai Media Office announced on Monday.

Additionally, the initiative comes as part of the authority’s efforts to develop the Dubai virtual asset market. They also want to create policies for the seamless integration of “innovative financial products” and adopt new trends that are currently making waves both within and outside the crypto industry. These include the non-fungible tokens (NFTs) mania.

“The step continues to accelerate Dubai’s standing as a leading global center for business, trade, and technology, the World Trade Center will deliver and oversee a new world-class regulatory framework of Virtual Asset legislative and enforcement policies, will be critical to facilitating and broadening cross-border operations and ecosystem innovation to enable safe market adoption and growth for this sector in Dubai,” it concluded.

A Welcome Development

Shortly after the news broke, it was met with joy from members of the crypto community, including the CEO of leading crypto exchange, Binance, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), who expressed his excitement at the new development.

Dubai is currently a crypto-friendly jurisdiction, with digital asset trading becoming official earlier in September.