The Finance World Magazine| Edition: March 2023

Digital Assets
Dubai Announces Guidelines for Virtual
Asset Industry and Ranks the World’s
Second Most Crypto-Ready City
According to a study conducted by Recap, Dubai has been positioned as the top city
in the region and the second globally in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry.
This has resulted in the city emerging as a nucleus of innovation and advancement
in this field. London was ranked as the leading global hub for cryptocurrency, mainly
due to its robust financial infrastructure and thriving start-up ecosystem.
Recap’s study looks at eight key
factors to recognise the level
of crypto readiness in cities
around the world, including
quality of life score, events related to
cryptocurrencies, the number of people
working in crypto-related jobs, the level
of R&D spending as a percentage of
GDP, the number of crypto ATMs, the
capital gains tax rate, and the percentage
of people who own cryptocurrencies.
The top 20 cities on Recap’s recent list
are New York, Singapore, Los Angeles,
Zug, Hong Kong, Paris, Vancouver,
Bangkok, Chicago, Berlin, Sapporo,
Lagos, Lisbon, Kuwait City, Tehran,
Sydney, Osaka, and Kuala Lumpur.
Riyadh and Jeddah were ranked 22nd
and 25th.
“Dubai comes in second place as it
pushes to become the leading centre
for cryptocurrency and blockchain
technology in the Middle East, following
a year of multiple new laws for crypto
exchanges to operate in the city,”
Recap said.
Dubai has recently established the
Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority
(VARA) to oversee and regulate the
virtual assets sector across Dubai’s
mainland and the free zone territories,
excluding the Dubai International
Financial Centre (DIFC). Some of
the major cryptocurrency firms have
already established themselves in
the UAE, while others are planning
to move here, including crypto.com,
Bybit, Binance, Deribit and others.
Additionally, a recent survey released
by YouGov found that two-thirds of UAE
adults are interested in cryptocurrency,
and that Dubai has a large number of
crypto-based companies available to
residents. This is a sign of increasing
interest in the sector, and suggests
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78 www.thefinanceworld.com March 2023