Blockchain.com, a London-based cryptocurrency company, has received a provisional licence to operate in Dubai. This makes it the latest in a line of companies that deal in digital assets to expand in the Gulf as the region strives to become a center for blockchain technology.
The company, which offers users a crypto wallet and is also a crypto exchange, said on Friday it had signed an agreement with Dubai’s crypto regulator Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), and would open an office in the region and begin hiring.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been pushing to develop virtual asset regulation to attract new business forms as economic competition heats up in the Gulf region.
Dubai, one of the UAE’s seven emirates and the region’s business hub, in March adopted its first law governing virtual assets and established VARA as a regulator for the sector.
The emirate has authorized Binance and FTX to trade virtual assets.
