Dubai
Bybit and Crypto.com exchanges follow FTX and Binance into Dubai
Bybit exchange, based in Singapore, has announced it is relocating its headquarters to the UAE Crypto.com, on the other hand, is looking to establish a regional office in Dubai Thanks to a fast-growing and friendly environment, the United Arab Emirates has been pulling big names in the cryptocurrency industry lately. A fortnight ago, FTX exchange shared news that it had been granted approval to provide regulated trading and clearing services to users in Dubai. Less than 24 hours later, Binance announced that it was looking to set up shop and carry out regional operations in Dubai after securing a virtual asset licence. Now, Bybit and Crypto.com have joined the two in establishing a presence in the Persian Gulf region. Crypto.com, which shares a native home in Singapore, revealed in a Monda...
Law Decoded: Arab States of the Gulf open up to digital asset services, March 14–21
Last week got off to an antsy start as the clause that many interpreted as a direct route to ban proof-of-work-(PoW)-based cryptocurrencies made a sudden comeback to the draft of the European Union’s key directive on digital assets. Many in the crypto policy space got immediate flashbacks to other instances of harmful last-minute additions to must-pass legislation days and hours before the vote. It all ended well, though, as the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs voted against the draft that contained the hostile language. Over in the United States, monetary policy kept growing more political, as evidenced by Sarah Bloom Raskin, President Joe Biden’s pick for the Federal Reserve’s vice chair for supervision, being forced to withdraw her nomination due to a Senate gridlock. Ukrainia...
FTX becomes the first licensed digital asset exchange in Dubai
The crypto exchanges’ Europe subsidiary will offer complex crypto derivatives to institutional clients. FTX also has plans to set up its regional headquarters in the city Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto trading platform FTX has become Dubai’s premier recipient of a virtual asset exchange (VAX) licence, according to a press release sent out today. The American exchange’s Europe and Middle Eastern subsidiary, FTX Europe, will now be operating legally in the city and would play a role in Dubai’s push to spur the growth of global virtual assets regulation. “Really excited to receive the first (and so far only) digital asset exchange licence from Dubai!” SBF tweeted following the news. The licence allows FTX to offer enterprise investors exposure ...
Dubai establishes virtual asset regulator and announces new crypto law
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates who holds several positions including prime minister, has announced a new law on virtual assets as well as the establishment of a crypto regulator. In a Wednesday announcement, Sheikh Al Maktoum said he had issued a law creating a legal framework for crypto in the Emirate of Dubai aimed at protecting investors and “designing much-warranted international standards” for industry governance. In addition, the ruler said a newly formed Dubai Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority, or VARA, would have enforcement powers in the Emirate’s special development zones and free zones with the exception of the Dubai International Financial Centre. “Approving the virtual asset law and establishing the Dubai Virtual As...
Buzzing Label FIVE Music Is Providing the Soundtrack to Dubai’s Hottest Parties
Aiming to curate the soundtrack to Dubai’s hottest parties events and parties—and represent the dance music community on a global scale—FIVE Music is the city’s most exciting new music imprint. A lifestyle and hospitality conglomerate, FIVE Hotels and Resorts holds multiple luxurious estates in Dubai, most notably the impressive FIVE Palm Jumeirah, which houses 470 rooms and suites in addition to multiple restaurants, event spaces and The Penthouse, one of the emirate’s most coveted rooftop lounges. FIVE Palm Jumeirah FIVE Palm Jumeirah hosts weekly parties at The Penthouse with an astonishing lineup of resident DJs, while also providing an experience of international standards at Beach by FIVE. The outdoor venue regularly books some of the world’s most acclaime...
Kingdom wins Nigerian Idol season 6
Kingdom Kroseide has emerged as the winner of the Nigerian Idol season 6. This was announced at the Grand Finale which held at the Africa Magic studios on Sunday. After audition months ago, Nigerian Idol produced 11 finalists – Faith Mac Ebiama, Comfort Alalade, Emmanuel Elijah, Clinton Francis, Beyonce Ajomiwe, Francis Atela, Dotun Deloye, Faith Onyeje, Akunna Okey, Daniel Ikechi, and Kingdom Kroseide. The two finalists to make it to the grand finale, Kingdom and Francis, have battled for the most-coveted title of the Nigerian Idol and Kingdom has emerged victorious. During the finale event, both finalists performed songs by Fela Kuti. While Francis sang ‘Yellow Fever’, Kingdom sang ‘Gentleman’. Artistes like Patoranking, Ayra Starr, and Ice Prince, performed at the final show, as Cobhams...
Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia suspends UAE flights
Saudi Arabia has suspended flights to three countries, including the neighbouring United Arab Emirates, to protect against a coronavirus variant, the interior ministry said Saturday. The move comes seven weeks after the oil-rich kingdom permitted fully immunised citizens to travel abroad, after a ban on foreign trips that lasted more than a year. The UAE, and especially Dubai, is a key leisure destination for Saudis. Flights to and from the UAE, alongside those to Ethiopia and Vietnam, will be suspended from Sunday, an interior ministry official said, quoted by the state news agency SPA. Saudi citizens and residents returning from these countries will be required to quarantine for 14 days, it added. Citizens would be banned “from travelling directly or indirectly, without obtaining prior p...
‘Hotel Rwanda’ hero never joined rebels – co-accused
Paul Rusesabagina, the ex-hotelier immortalised in the film “Hotel Rwanda”, never belonged to a rebel group that sought to overthrow President Paul Kagame, one of the former rebels accused with him of terrorism told a court on Wednesday. “Rusesabagina was never a member of the National Liberation Front (FLN), he was a civilian … He is not a soldier,” former FLN spokesman Callixte Sankara told the court in Kigali. He said the prosecution had presented no evidence to substantiate its claim that Rusesabagina had given orders to the FLN, which has claimed responsibility for attacks in past years that it said were aimed at ousting the president. Sankara is one of 20 Rwandans being tried alongside Rusesabagina, who is 67. Prosecutors describe them as fighters for the FLN. Most were captured in s...
U.S. blocks websites linked to Iranian disinformation
The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday blocked some three dozen websites, many of them associated with Iranian disinformation activities, a U.S. government source said, adding an official announcement was expected. The source in Washington spoke after notices appeared earlier on Tuesday on a number of Iran-affiliated websites saying they had been seized by the United States government as part of law enforcement action. Iranian news agencies said that the U.S. government had seized several Iranian media websites and sites belonging to groups affiliated with Iran such as Yemen’s Houthi movement. Some sites later started to display as normal. The website of the Arabic-language Masirah TV, which is run by the Houthis, read: “The domain almasirah.net has been seized by the United States Governm...
UAE ratifies extradition deal with South Africa as hunt for Guptas intensifies
The United Arab Emirates has ratified a 2018 extradition treaty with South Africa, its embassy in Pretoria said on Wednesday, a move that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government hopes will lead to the return of the Gupta brothers to face corruption charges. South Africa signed the treaty with the UAE in late 2018, part of Ramaphosa’s effort to crack down on those accused of corruption and influence peddling under his predecessor, Jacob Zuma. It was ratified in April, UAE’s embassy said in a statement. The Gupta brothers – Atul, Ajay and Rajesh Gupta – are accused of using connections with Zuma to win contracts, misappropriate state assets, inappropriately influence cabinet appointments and siphon off billions of rand in state funds. The Indian-born brothers, who have repeatedly denied wrong...
Iran says nuclear talks policy won’t change after presidential vote
Iran’s policy in talks with world powers to revive the 2015 nuclear accord will remain unchanged after a June 18 presidential election because the issue is decided by its highest leadership, a government spokesman said on Tuesday. A host of barriers to the revival of the nuclear deal remain firmly in place ahead of talks due to resume this week, suggesting a return to compliance with the accord is still a way off, diplomats, Iranian officials and analysts said. “We have shown that we adhere to our international obligations under all circumstances, and this was a national decision,” cabinet spokesman Ali Rabiei told a weekly news conference. Rabiei said Iran’s nuclear policy, set by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is not linked to internal developments and that the new government wou...
