The Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) has announced that it will be working as a comprehensive zone and regulator for virtual assets and crypto, including digital assets, products, operators and exchanges.

The DWTC will be designing a comprehensive ecosystem for the sector within Dubai, including a regulatory framework for virtual asset legislative and enforcement policies, a statement from the authority said.

It will be collaborating with the private sector and other Dubai-based entities to create an “attractive environment” for the sector, and also put in place standards for investor protection, Anti Money Laundering (AML), Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) compliance and cross border deal flow tracing.

Further, the DWTC also has plans to create a framework for innovative financial products, and adopt trends that rely on advanced underlying blockchain technology, such as non-fungible tokens and cryptocurrencies, it said.

Other crypto initiatives by the DWTC

In September this year, the UAE’s Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) and the DWTC signed an agreement for regulating, offering, and trading crypto assets and related financial activities at the DWTC free zone.

Through the agreement, the SCA would oversee the issuance, offering, listing, and trading of crypto assets at the DWTCA free zone. It would also monitor the licensing of related financial activities, and supervise licensed entities.

A month after the announcement, the DWTC also revealed that it would be collaborating with Bahrain-based crypto platform CoinMENA. The two entities would be working together to build a crypto and blockchain hub within the DWTC free zone.

The hub is aimed at attracting regional and international companies to the free zone. It will also make way for DWTC and CoinMENA to set up a regulatory environment within the DWTC free zone.

Other free zones in Dubai where similar initiatives are underway include the Dubai Airport Free Zone Authority, and the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre.