We can all say it is great to see we are half way through
the year 2020, with all that is has brought, yet UNLOCK has
been diligently covering the Blockchain scene in the MENA
region, and the news is good.
As you will read below
there has been a lot going on both in the crypto assets
scene as well as blockchain scene in the region. We have
divided this newsletter into different parts depending on
your interest.
Blockchain and Covid-19
Let us
first start with Blockchain and Covid-19, there were various
blockchain entities as well as governmental initiatives. The
examples are many, here are a few, such as Justchain
and its fight against Covid-19, the Dubai
Future Foundation and the Ministry
of Community Development in the UAE with its blockchain
platform to reduce the spread of Covid-19. While Avantas
launched MedsLock,
and Accubits
also launched its solution and finally Liberhealth
and their blockchain solution for the healthcare
sector.
Crypto in MENA
As for the crypto
assets scene in the MENA region, it is moving forward
swiftly and steadfastly. One of the most important
announcements is that Securities and Commodities Authority
UAE will
announce final crypto asset draft law at the end of the
month. RAIN crypto exchange announced that
crypto trading increased on its website by 200 percent.
In addition Burency
exchange launched its crypto exchange, and DEX
digital asset exchange received its final license as did
Matrix
exchange. ADGM also granted Koine
crypto
asset custodian license. Additionally Sustain Exchange
launched
its Islamic compliant exchange. UNLOCK interviewed as
well Saeed
Al Darmaki who gave his insights on crypto and
blockchain in the region. In the meantime, UAE DFSA and
Deloitte published a report on digital assets and Black
Manta Capital and UAE Deca4 signed MOU
for tokenization. While Kuwait saw the launch a new
cryptocurrency
Banking and Blockchain
The
banking and financial sector in the GCC and MENA, have been
at the forefront of Blockchain implementations and
solutions. UAE
National bank of Fujairah partnered with Ripple for
payments while Kuwait finance house extended its Ripple
Services to Turkey. Abu
Dhabi Islamic Bank executed trade finance transaction on
Trade assets. Even the Central
Bank of Lebanon reiterated its intent to launch a CBDC.
While Qatar
Central bank is looking into blockchain. In KSA, SAMA,
the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority used blockchain to inject
liquidity to banks while Islamic
Development bank is working with Blockchain entity
Blocko. Even the KSA
Capital Markets is utilizing Blockchain while Musharaka
Capital is working on digital
securities. Finally Qatar
Development bank CEO stated that Blockchain is at the
heart of their digitization projects.
Governments and
Blockchain
As for governments and governmental
entities in the GCC and MENA, many of them are utilizing or
working on blockchain projects. Both Abu Dhabi Digital
Authority and Saudi Aramco piloted the WEF blockchain
toolkit. UAE DEWA joined
Dubai economy platform and Abu Dhabi Digital Authority
launched Blockchain based Abu
Dhabi Pay and signed an MOU
with Intel on Blockchain. UAE DP World joined
IBM Tradelens, Dubai Health Authority launched digital
licenses on Blockchain, while DIFC CEO discussed UAE Blockchain
strategy and signed
MOU with Blockchain FinTech entity Jiaozi. Overall the
UAE government will be focusing on Blockchain in phase two
of their economic
reopening, and Oman government is utilizing Oracle
for blockchain and its digitization strategy.
In
October Dubai Government will be launching four
new blockchain use cases.
Blockchain Company
launches
In addition new companies are setting up in
the UAE and MENA region. One of them is DTLLedgers
which announced its launch, as did Vesuvio
Labs in Qatar, MAKSAB Blockchain
SME deal making platform in the UAE and Yottachain for
Blockchain
Storage in the UAE and Tradetech
for tradefinance and OmanChains.
Investments
in Blockchain startups
The GCC and MENA region has
witnessed an upsurge in investments in Blockchain related
entities. These are some of the major ones, Zon
decentralized ecommerce platform, Rise
Fintech, Cwallet
in Qatar, Mas
exchange, Jio
platform, ClearHedgeCapital,
two investments
for Verofax
, Evenflow,
DeepDive,
W3BCloud
Private
Sector implementations
Finally we should not forget
all the companies across the region that are utilizing
blockchain such as National
Takaful Company , Cox
Logisitics, KFC
MENA, YFC
for recycling, UAE
Higher Colleges for technology
As a conclusion it
is safe to say that Blockchain and Crypto is growing in the
region. UNLOCK is ready to help you as Blockchain entities
to strengthen your presence, exposure, and reach. We are
here to serve this ecosystem and look forward to working
with you
all.