Dubai grants tentative approval to crypto firm Blockchain.com

Sep 9 (Reuters) – London-based crypto firm Blockchain.com said it had been granted interim permission to operate in Dubai, becoming the latest in a series of digital asset companies expanding in the Gulf as that the region seeks to become a blockchain hub. Technology.

The company, which offers users a crypto wallet and is also a crypto exchange, said on Friday that it had signed an agreement with Dubai crypto regulator Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) and would open an office in the area and would start hiring.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been pushing to develop virtual asset regulations to attract new forms of business as economic competition intensifies in the Gulf region.

Dubai, one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates and the region’s business hub, passed its first law governing virtual assets in March and established VARA as the sector’s regulator.

Since then, the emirate has also licensed virtual assets to crypto giants Binance and FTX.

Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli

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