Emirate of the UAE Launches a Free Zone for Crypto Companies

The Arab emirates’ authorities are loyal to cryptocurrencies and blockchain, actively promoting the development of the technology and attracting investment in it, as well as in the state’s economy.

• Ras Al Khaimah, one of the UAE’s seven emirates, plans to establish a free zone for businesses developing cryptocurrency solutions.

Such an approach of the authorities allows them to attract major crypto-players and makes them interested in investing in the economy of the emirate.

The RAK Digital Assets Oasis

To implement this plan, the RAK Digital Assets Oasis (RAK DAO) is created. Its goal is to develop innovations in the field of cryptocurrency and blockchain.

• Applications for crypto startups and developers wishing to participate in such a project will open in the 2nd quarter of 2023.

This free zone is being created for cryptocurrency service providers working in these most progressive fields of activity.

Among them, the most prominent are: the development of an ecosystem of DAOs, creating new blockchains, metaverses, issues of tokens, including NFTs, and various tools supporting the cryptocurrency ecosystem — wallets, different dApps, and various Web3 solutions.

Government support

RAK DAO in Ras Al Khaimah is the 1st free zone in the world, established exclusively for crypto startups. Local authorities have enormous plans for its prospects.

The UAE authorities are actively developing free zones or free trade zones within the Emirates. These territories have their own tax rules and incentives governed by a regulatory framework.

• The newly created free zone is a part of the overall financial ecosystem of the country, which consists of more than 40 multifunctional zones of free trade.

These oases of accelerated development and tax incentives in the country have already attracted numerous crypto, blockchain, and Web3 startups, including Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), DIFC, and ADGM.

Conclusion

The UAE is one of the most favorable places for the development of crypto companies, attracting them to this jurisdiction with its friendlier regulation and loyal approach to modern technology and innovation.

• In March 2022, Dubai released a law on virtual assets. It also established the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority.

These measures aim primarily to protect investors and develop the standards for the cryptocurrency industry. They help to actively attract funds into the state’s economy, in particular by creating different free zones in the territory of the emirates.

In September 2022, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority, the ADGM regulator, released guidelines, codifying the state’s approach to the regulation and supervision of cryptocurrencies and service providers in this area.