Dubai World Trade Centre is becoming a crypto hub, will rollout a new “world-class regulatory framework”

Dubai authorities recently announced that Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) will soon become a comprehensive zone and regulator for crypto–including cryptocurrencies, crypto-related products, operators, and exchanges.

The new initiative will see the government-owned event and exhibition venue in Dubai transform into a crypto hub–set to further local development and adoption.

Leveraging a comprehensive ecosystem

“The Dubai World Trade Centre will be designing a comprehensive ecosystem for this progressive sector within Dubai,” read the announcement.

The initiative includes creating a framework for innovative financial products, the announcement added, aligning it with the efforts to further the adoption of new trends which “rely on advanced underlying blockchain technology, such as non-fungible token (NFT) and cryptocurrencies.”

The new crypto zone will be developed through DWTC’s collaboration with the private sector and relevant entities in Dubai–in a bid to accelerate Dubai’s advancement as a business, trade, and technology leader.

“World Trade Center will deliver and oversee a new world-class regulatory framework of Virtual Asset legislative and enforcement policies,” the announcement added.

New world-class regulatory framework

According to the announcement, the DWTC will be given a central role in creating an attractive environment for the sector, while enforcing rigorous standards for investor protection–including Anti Money Laundering (AML), Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) compliance, and cross border deal flow tracing.

The new regulatory framework rollout is expected to “facilitate and broaden cross-border operations and ecosystem innovation” and in the meantime, enable “safe market adoption and growth for this sector in Dubai.”

Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao shared the announcement with his Twitter followers.

» Dubai World Trade Centre to become comprehensive zone and regulator for virtual assets and Crypto https://t.co/Ndr6GDcJ4u

— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) December 20, 2021

Last week, Binance allegedly held discussions with regulators in the UAE about setting up the company’s global headquarters in Abu Dhabi or Dubai, Bloomberg reported, citing people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Rumors started in October when Zhao was spotted attending a meeting with the authorities in Dubai.

Binance held a meetup in DuBai. Due to the difficulty of applying for a work visa in Singapore, many exchanges began to transfer to DuBai, such as huobi. https://t.co/AyehNkNiix

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) October 11, 2021

Around that time, the head of the world’s largest crypto exchange also purchased his first house in Dubai, describing the government there as “very progressive.”

“I want to show that we are committed to the place, so I bought an apartment there,” Zhao said.