The United Arab Emirates looks set to be the next country to formerly regulate digital assets, after its Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) drafted a crypto assets resolution.

Despite generally lagging behind the leading countries in Europe, North America and Asia, several Middle Eastern nations are showing an increasing interest in blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Countries like Bahrain, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and even Iran are embracing blockchain to one degree or another, while the United Arab Emirates is rapidly emerging the regional blockchain hub.

U.A.E: the region’s blockchain hub

With the United Arab Emirates emerging as a thriving blockchain hub, here’s a quick overview of the some of the most interesting projects happening in the emirates right now.

Dubai 10X Project

Early this month the Dubai Chamber of Commerce revealed it had partnered with Emirates NBD, one of the UAE’s biggest state-owned banks, to help further the Dubai 10X project. Scheduled to launch next year, Dubai 10X is a joint project between the Dubai Customs and cargo-handling company DP World-UAE, aiming to digitise the entire trade process in the “Digital Silk Road” network.

Wethaq

In September Dubai-based fintech firm Wethaq announced a strategic partnership with blockchain software company R3, to develop financial market infrastructure to serve the Islamic world. Wethaq’s platform is built on R3’s Corda Enterprise and is aimed specifically at improving the market infrastructure supporting the issuance and trading of Sukuk securities – a global market worth more than $120 annually (read more).

Perlin and the ICC Blockchain/DLT Alliance

In April this year, Perlin, a Dubai-based blockchain startup, partnered with the world’s largest business organisation, the 45 million member-strong International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), to form the ICC Blockchain/DLT Alliance. The Dubai Chamber of Commerce also joined the project in June.

Bank Trust Network

Du, the Dubai-based telecommunications provider, is also embracing blockchain technology, having partnered with Avanza Innovations to develop a financial document exchange platform known as the “Bank Trust Network.” The project aims to allow banks and financial institutions to share digital paperwork in a secure and convenient way. Abu Dhabi-based Finance House, an independent investment and financial services firm, was the first client to sign-up to the Bank Trust Network.

UAE Trade Connect

Staying with telecommunications firms, in July 2019, Abu Dhabi-based Etisalat Digital announced a partnership with First Abu Dhabi Bank and Avanza Innovations, that aims to create a blockchain-based trade finance platform.

Dubbed “UAE Trade Connect”, it is hoped the platform will help combat invoice fraud, particularly double financing – a growing problem in the Middle East and North Africa. It is hoped to integrate artificial intelligence and machine learning with the system at some point. The platform already has several major clients including Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Commercial Bank International, Commercial Bank of Dubai, Emirates NBD, Mashreq and RAKBANK.

Blocko

In early October South Korea-based blockchain provider Blocko also launched in the United Arab Emirates after raising $16 million in two funding rounds. The company has partnered with SEED Group, a member of the Private Office of Sheikh Saeed bin Ahmed Al Maktoum in the UAE, with a view to introducing its Aergo platform to the Middle East region (read more).

Trade Assets

In February 2019, Trade Assets was launched as a blockchain marketplace that is part of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre. The platform has since been adopted by Dubai-based RAKBANK, India-based Yes Bank, Egypt-based Banque Misr, along with more than twenty banks in Bangladesh, including Dhaka Bank, Dutch Bangla, Mercantile Bank and Prime Bank.

The Trade Assets platform is primarily intended to replace the slow and inefficient secondary trade system – allowing banks to better capitalise on the $1 trillion secondary trade market.

Marco Polo

In September, Dubai’s National Bank of Fujairah (NBF) signed-up to Marco Polo – the R3 Corda blockchain-based international trade finance network that includes international giants like Bank of America, Mastercard, Microsoft, Natwest and Oracle.

SilSal

In October Maqta Gateway, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Ports, launched the Silsal blockchain project in an effort to improve security, efficiency and transparency. To test the system, Maqta Gateway partnered with the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and the Belgian port of Antwerp.

Etihad and Winding Tree

In August it was revealed that UAE national carrier Etihad Airways had partnered with blockchain-based travel platform Winding Tree. The company will introduce blockchain into the airline’s distribution network, enabling it to efficiently distribute good and services directly, and remove the need to use third parties (read more).

Public Sector

The UAE also has some interesting public sector blockchain projects too, like emCash – a digital version of Dubai’s national fiat Dirham currency (read more). Developed with IBM’s Hyperledger, emCash can be used to pay for goods and services across the emirate via the emPay app.

The Ministry of Health and Prevention, MoHAP, has also launched the first blockchain-based system to save and share the assessment information of health professionals, including doctors, pharmacists and technicians with local licensing health authorities, which will help reduce the time and cost and improve efficiency and data integrity (read more).

AYO.NEWS says:

Sitting as it does in between Europe and Asia, and benefiting from excellent air transport links and a very friendly business environment, its easy to see how the United Arab Emirates could quickly eclipse many other blockchain hubs globally.

Perhaps most importantly, as its ruler’s have already shown, they are more than willing to invest large sums into developing a non-oil dependent future economy, and unlike most other nations, the UAE’s form of governance enables it to rapidly pivot and adopt new policies and strategies without getting bogged down by party politics.

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.