UAE's Minister Of Trade: Cryptocurrencies Play An Important Role For Future Trade

JAKARTA Cryptocurrencies or cryptocurrencies have entered a cleaner phase after the collapse of FTX and other problematic crypto companies. Crypto also has the potential to become a transaction tool in the future. This is in line with what was conveyed by the Minister of Foreign Trade of the United Arab Emirates Thani Al Zeyoudi.

In an event held in Davos, Switzerland, Al Zeyoudi told Bloomberg that crypto is one of the fields the UAE government wants to develop. He argues that cryptocurrencies will play an important role in UAE trading in the future. But before that happens, the government will first set rules for the clarity of crypto regulations.

"The most important thing is that we ensure global governance in terms of cryptocurrencies and crypto companies," explained Al Zeyoudi.

"We are starting to attract some companies to this country with the aim that we can build proper governance and legal systems, which are needed," he added.

On the other hand, Omar Sultan Al Olama, UAE State Minister for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Long-distance Work Applications, also spoke of cryptocurrency regulation last week in a World Economic Forum (WEF) session entitled "Finding the Right Balance for Crypto" in Davos.

He asserted that no crypto exchange was licensed by the UAE. Furthermore, Omar stressed that the regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies in the UAE is "not light."

"The UAE hasn't issued a single licensed crypto exchange in the UAE, neither Binance nor FTX... no one was able to accept customers even last week," said Omar Sultan Al Olama, quoted by Bitcoin.com News.

The Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority Dubai (VARA), which was founded in March, also stated on its website that it had not granted any operating permits to date. VARA is responsible for granting permission and regulating the crypto sector in the Dubai Emirate and its free zone areas (excluding DIFC) under UAE law.

Even so, a number of leading crypto exchanges including Binance, OKX, Bitoasis, FTX, and Coinmena have received temporary permission from the authority. VARA emphasizes that the crypto company is only in the first phase in four approval processes.