RIYADH: The UAE is in talks with Asian firms seeking to relocate to the Gulf nation, as part of efforts to transform itself into a hub for cryptocurrencies, Bloomberg reported.
“We’ve seen multinational firms right now waiting to relocate out of east Asia,” Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV.
The government is in talks with several companies looking to set up a base in the UAE, given stricter regulations elsewhere, and given the country's resilience during the pandemic, he said.
Binance had held discussions with regulators in the UAE about a possible headquarters in the country, Bloomberg reported last week.
“Stay tuned,” Al Falasi said when asked about Binance’s plans.
The UAE is competing with Singapore, Switzerland, and others to become a global crypto hub.
The Dubai World Trade Centre will become a comprehensive zone and regulator for virtual assets and cryptocurrencies, the government said on Monday.
“Cryptocurrency is here to stay, we’ve seen an increase in uptake,” Al Falasi said. “As long as you are following right regulation, there is no harm in adopting such technology or putting the regulation in place.”
NFTs
China's official Xinhua News Agency is planning to release news collectibles based on technology used for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), even though Beijing has banned all crypto-related transactions.
The collectibles, minted from selected news photo reports from this year, will be released free via its news app at 8 p.m. on Friday, the agency said, in an announcement on Wednesday.
The move comes despite China's crackdown on cryptocurrencies, which in the past few years has led to a ban on all related activities.
Other media outlets, such as the New York Times and Cable News Network, made similar offers earlier.
Although the Chinese authorities have not classified NFTs as illegal, it is a gray area, where any participant should proceed with caution.
Local companies such as Tencent and Ant Group have issued NFTs on their tightly-controlled blockchain platforms, according to Bloomberg.
Local media also warned against blind speculation in NFTs.
Daily Trading
Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency, traded higher on Wednesday, rising by 1.03 percent to $49,232 at 2:18 p.m. Riyadh time.
Ether, the second most traded cryptocurrency, traded at $4,034, up 0.23 percent, according to data from Coindesk.
