Dubai’s first official crypto exchange about to be launched

The first officially registered cryptocurrency exchange has been launched in Dubai, following a joint venture between Al Zarooni Group and Crypto Bulls.

The two organisations, alongside Gulf Coin Gold (GCG), will collaborate on the venture, which will see the crypto and blockchain industries grow across the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over the coming months and years.

Suhail Al Zaroon, chairman of the Al Zarooni Foundation, said (loose translation): “This will be a milestone for getting global investments opportunities from all [around] the globe in UAE, as all financial techs and investors are looking forward [to the] crypto and blockchain industry.”

More than 200,000 traders have come to the Crypto Bulls Exchange in the past six months as interest in crypto grows across the nation, according to founder Shasha Gupta. It will now offer fiat trading pairs in Arab Emirate Dirham (AED).

Gupta added: “With this unique support from UAE government, Crypto Bulls would be able to attract a huge number of foreign investments in crypto from Asia and the Middle East.”

As part of its blockchain strategy, UAE aims to push the number of government transactions conducted using blockchain to 50 percent by 2021. To achieve this it wants to regulate the use of crypto assets.

Last month it was reported that the country would introduce a full regulatory framework for ICOs by 2019, with Obaid Saif al-Zaabi, chief executive at the Securities and Commodities Authority in UAE reinstating that ICOs would be considered ‘securities’ under the new rules.