The dedicated crypto zone will be established at the Dubai Trade Centre.

Over the past few years, Dubai has evolved as a hub for integration of every new piece of technology along with advancements in connectivity and digital services that have made their way to the Middle East from different parts of the world, making its intentions of becoming a smart city pretty clear. This is why the dramatic rise of crypto currencies more than a decade after the first digital coin was minted, was expected to get a positive response in the gulf's tech oasis.

Not only did licensing authorities in the city start accepting Bitcoin as payment, but Dubai has also become home to a gallery that sells Islamic art as NFTs, and studios which are bidding for everything from memes to viral videos and sports memorabilia, that has been registered on the blockchain. To contain the quick evolution of the sector with digital assets flooding the virtual realm, Dubai will now host a dedicated zone for the creation as well as secure storage of cryptocurrencies as well as products converted into tokens.

Being assembled at the Dubai Trade Centre, the crypto hub will help the government regulate the flow of digitised assets and transactions, to keep a check on money laundering via online channels, and to protect investors from dubious products. By making sure that norms are framed and applied on cross border payments using the platform, authorities will be able to prevent use of blockchains to fund terror outfits.

Although the absence of regulation by central banks makes crypto an attractive investment vehicle, governments in Kuwait and Turkey among others have been wary of it because of the volatile nature of online assets. But instead of hysteria, the UAE has chosen to introduce regulations that can make sure netizens are protected from dubious schemes, without depriving them of a way to benefit from the blockchain boom.