The United Arab Emirates is planning to start granting cryptocurrency companies with federal licenses by the end of the first quarter, Bloomberg has learned, citing the UAE official. According to anonymous sources close to the matter, the local financial regulator — the Securities and Commodities Authority — is in the final stage of amending legislation.
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The report says Abu Dhabi plans to stick with the latest guidance from the Financial Action Task Force by implementing the so-called hybrid approach to oversight. This means that the UAE will not ban cryptocurrencies, but will regulate the market with input from the central bank.
The UAE official added that despite the overall scrutiny from environmentalists and lawmakers internationally the government wants to create an ecosystem for crypto mining as well.
In July 2020, Dubai Department of Economic Development (DED) and Emirates NBD, Dubai government-owned bank, launched a blockchain-based platform for Know Your Customer verifications. The service dubbed UAE KYC Blockchain Platform focused on securing digital customer onboarding, instant bank account functionality and sharing of verified KYC data between banks.
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