Over the past year, the United Arab Emirates has opened its doors to some of the crypto industry's biggest players, welcoming firms that were shunned elsewhere in the world.
That approach is now under greater scrutiny after the high-profile blowups of the crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital and the exchange FTX, both of which had received initial licenses from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority.
The Dubai Crypto Expo at the Festival Arena in Dubai, Oct. 5. Photographer: Christopher Pike/Bloomberg In recent weeks, UAE officials have privately expressed concerns over the pace of some approvals — that they may have proceeded too quickly and failed to identify those meltdowns, people familiar with the matter said.
FTX's demise is now calling more attention to its rival Binance, whose share of global crypto trading volumes has increased to almost 50%, according to data from CryptoCompare. The firm's Chief Executive Officer Changpeng “CZ” Zhao made Dubai his home last year, and he has referred to the emirate as one of Binance's headquarters.
Yet while UAE crypto players are now on alert for updates from the regulators, the country, like some other financial centers, is sticking to its conviction of becoming a hub for the industry.
