2 years ago
Players successful the crypto abstraction are attracted to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to the fact that the portion not lone has wide rules but is besides “open to experimentation,” Ben Caselin, the Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) astatine the crypto speech Maskex, has said. Caselin besides said the UAE and the Middle East’s perceived neutrality “opens doors” that crypto exchanges operating successful the U.S. oregon the Asia Pacific portion cannot enjoy.
Factors Behind the MENA’s Emergence arsenic a Preferred Investment Destination
The Maskex CSO besides told Bitcoin.com News that the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region’s emergence arsenic 1 of the astir sought-after concern destinations could beryllium owed to what helium described arsenic the displacement of relationships. Such shifts alteration “new hubs of powerfulness and innovation to emerge.”
With respect to stablecoins, Caselin said these are “hugely important” present and volition stay truthful for the foreseeable future. However, successful his written responses sent to Bitcoin.com News, Caselin acknowledges that stablecoins often rouse emotions, hence their issuance is champion done successful collaboration with “all the close stakeholders successful a fixed region.” In his responses, Caselin besides shared his thoughts connected the ongoing artificial quality (AI) hype and U.S. regulatory woes.
Below are Caselin’s answers to questions sent to him via Telegram.
Bitcoin.com News (BCN): The UAE seems to beryllium astatine the forefront of crypto regulatory innovation, with the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) providing investors, developers, and companies with wide rules. Besides regulatory clarity, what bash deliberation makes the UAE an charismatic destination for endowment and capital?
Ben Caselin (BC): Across the emirates that marque up the UAE, determination are opportunities. While a metropolis specified arsenic Dubai is well-developed, it’s wide that determination is inactive truthful overmuch much country to turn and that comes with a definite excitement. From infrastructure and architecture to concern and digitalization, the UAE is anxious to innovate and unfastened to experimentation. This is charismatic to anyone with ambition and an entrepreneurial spirit.
BCN: Your company, Maskex, counts Sheikh Hamad bin Rakadh Al-Ameri, who is associated with a well-known sovereign wealthiness money successful Abu Dhabi, arsenic its large shareholder. What bash you deliberation their reasoning is down the beardown religion successful Maskex and crypto?
BC: While immoderate overseas exchanges overmuch larger than ours person publically expressed involvement successful obtaining a licence and engaging successful this region, Maskex is archetypal and foremost a Dubai-based speech and we are arrogant to beryllium profoundly associated with Abu Dhabi and the UAE arsenic we service the wider region. In addition, founded lone successful 2021, Maskex inactive has a batch of country to turn which is charismatic to immoderate investor. Furthermore, it’s important to enactment that Maskex is not conscionable a crypto exchange. In summation to the accustomed crypto products specified arsenic spot, perpetuals, margin, options, transcript trading, staking and p2p, we besides connection markets for some US and Hong Kong stocks and a wide scope of real-world payment, OTC and banking capabilities to some retail and organization clients. Simply put, Maskex is rather unsocial successful its offering.
BCN: The UAE is sometimes seen arsenic the neutral crushed betwixt the West and the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. What, if any, advantages bash the UAE-based exchanges person implicit their Western oregon APAC peers erstwhile serving planetary customers?
BC: The UAE is highly respected crossed the portion and beyond; from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Egypt, from Turkey to Uzbekistan, each the mode to Indonesia, and truthful operating an speech from the UAE with the close web of enactment down it tin unfastened up a batch of doors that some U.S. and APAC-based exchanges would find hard to unlock. This is simply a bully thing. I judge the manufacture is champion served by determination consolidation, alternatively than planetary monopolization.
So if we tin spot high-quality exchanges independently look and consolidate crossed South America, North America, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, arsenic good arsenic Central and South East Asia, the Far East, and the Pacific, past that’s astir apt amended if we ever privation to spot the adoption of bitcoin and integer assets by the full planetary population. And by adoption, I don’t conscionable mean that radical are capable to summation vulnerability to planetary markets and enactment successful planetary concern and marque their ain escaped choices arsenic to what currencies they would similar to usage successful their day-to-day life, but I bash besides mean the adoption of a civilization of self-custody and peer-to-peer payments. Regional consolidation marks the adjacent signifier of maturation successful the improvement of this industry.
BCN: As a regulatory-compliant centralized exchange, Maskex reportedly aims to supply the masses with fiscal anonymity and autonomy. How bash you onslaught a equilibrium betwixt regulatory compliance and idiosyncratic anonymity, particularly erstwhile the VARA states successful the conception “Prohibited Virtual Assets” that the issuing of privateness coins is prohibited successful the emirate?
BC: Maskex volition ever request to onslaught a equilibrium and whitethorn follow antithetic strategies per jurisdiction. Privacy tin beryllium placed connected a spectrum and does not conscionable notation to privateness coins. It whitethorn besides notation to backstage banking, the quality for users to make caller addresses, oregon seamless connected and off-ramps betwixt fiat and crypto including the Maskex virtual paper which allows users to wage for goods and services with USDT arsenic their collateral.
BCN: Do you spot stablecoins having a relation successful the aboriginal of crypto and Maskex readying to motorboat fiat-pegged stablecoins successful the adjacent future?
BC: Stablecoins stay hugely important and volition nary uncertainty stay truthful for the clip being. Across the region, request for USDT is soaring, truthful overmuch truthful that request tin hardly beryllium met. In summation to USD-pegged stablecoins, we tin besides expect to spot much innovation astir gold-pegged stablecoins, particularly successful the existent macro environment.
Gold is simply a trusted store of worth successful this region, some culturally and historically, and it’s truly lone a substance of clip earlier we volition spot the marketplace for gold-backed stablecoins explode. We cannot disclose thing astir immoderate token that we mightiness oregon mightiness not issue, but it’s bully to enactment that stablecoins are highly governmental successful quality and are champion issued successful collaboration with each the close stakeholders successful a fixed region.
BCN: According to a study by Chainalysis, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) portion is the world’s fastest-growing crypto adopter. In your opinion, what bash you deliberation are immoderate of the factors driving crypto adoption successful the region?
BC: The maturation successful the MENA portion cannot beryllium attributed to 1 azygous origin alone. Over the past decennary a batch has changed, some successful the portion itself arsenic good globally. From a high-level constituent of view, we could accidental that successful the existent macro-environment and the progressively multi-polar world, each relationships are shifting allowing for caller hubs of powerfulness and innovation to emerge. It’s clip for the MENA portion to travel into the limelight now, not conscionable connected the crypto front, but mostly crossed culture, art, concern and technology. Having said that, I spot tremendous opportunities successful Sub-Saharan Africa arsenic well, arsenic good arsenic South America. Perhaps this decennary belongs to emerging markets worldwide – and that’s a bully happening arsenic emerging markets already location implicit 85% of the world’s population.
BCN: Amid the caller artificial quality (AI) hype, a clump of AI tokens person been grabbing the attraction of traders. Many of them astir apt don’t person immoderate existent utility. According to you, does AI person a relation successful the Web3 space?
BC: AI is absorbing but connected the Web3 beforehand it doesn’t involvement maine astatine all. People look to hide that Web3 is conscionable a buzzword rooted successful the archetypal volition to wholly overhaul the world’s fiscal strategy and determination towards a fairer signifier of money. It’s overmuch little astir gaming oregon gathering successful virtual cybercafes and interacting with AI-powered NPCs. I’m focused precise overmuch connected the empowerment of radical successful the existent world. Having said that, AI is highly absorbing for its imaginable to optimize education, wellness care, concern operations, logistics, originative enactment and much – but putting AI and Web3 unneurotic is different look for aimless hype.
BCN: The European Union has approved its cross-jurisdictional crypto regulation model Markets successful Crypto Assets regularisation (MiCA) for merchandise successful 2024. Do you deliberation this way oregon that acceptable by the likes of the UAE volition punctual the U.S. to velocity up the rollout of their ain crypto regulations?
BC: No. Unfortunately, the US presently suffers from excessively galore interior conflicts to adjacent statesman to supply immoderate clarity astatine all. It’s bully to spot antithetic countries astir the satellite instrumentality complaint of their ain future, and eventually, erstwhile the US arsenic a full does travel around, it mightiness beryllium connected fairer presumption for all.
What are your thoughts astir this interview? Let america cognize what you deliberation successful the comments conception below.
English (US) 