Recently in an article by the Arab News showed how crypto is going mainstream. The article further confirms that in the year 2022 all across GCC the investments made in the crypto space will be reaching 500 million USD. The crypto industry within a short interval of time has been able to go mainstream. They have been able to do so due to the major strides in digital assets by the Middle East region. They are doing so with the slip of new regulatory measures and investments in the crypto space.
iOWN is a regional tech company which is investing in order to develop fintech solutions built on blockchain. The Co- founder and marketing director of iOWN, Zina Ashour mentioned how he thinks it is very positive news. He further states how he hopes this will lead to massive adoption for digital assets in the region. It can be concluded from his statement that the regulators are interested in being part of digitizing the financial sector. They consider this a very big movement and want to achieve this via blockchain and crypto currency.
About 4.3 percent of the GDP in the gulf state, UAE is a result of contribution from the digital economy. This is not a small percentage as it amounts to as close as 100 billion dirhams which is approximately $27 billion. The country has as many as 1400 start- ups. They have also allocated these start- ups with 1.5 billion dirhams. UAE as of now has 12 business incubators and 90 investment funds in the digital sector. It has been found that the total value of the start- ups in the country amounts to as high as 90 billion dirhams.
The CEO and Co- founder, Ola Doudin, of the company BitOasis (which is a USA based digital asset trading exchange and platform), stated that from the regulatory perspective they have been able to reach the escape velocity. When it comes to Virtual asset service providers this success of reaching the escape velocity is attributed to the momentum and competitive dynamic among the regulators and policy makers.
It is explained by Doudin that this trend is driven by two factors. One of them is the realization that the Web 3.0 is upon us, adoption rates are high. The second is the enablement of Web 3.0 will create jobs and attract investment if it is done through balanced regulation. This will also help in positioning the country as a centre of innovation. She even added how they are expecting markets like GCC and MENA to follow their suit within a year.
Doubin pointed out how 19 out of 20 crypto markets which are weighted by crypto activity lie mostly in the developing economies. Therefore, it is not that astonishing when these territories introduce a new regulatory framework there is a natural surge of investment and interest among the people. As such is the case with the UAE now. She even gave a rough estimate of the venture investment into the sector across the GCC market. It is expected to go beyond $500 million this year alone.
According to the latest statistics from the Dubai Chamber for Digital Economy, the digital economy contributes 4.3 percent of the GDP in the UAE, currently.
