According to a report by Arab News on Tuesday, clients of Dubai government-owned licensing firm Kiklabb can now pay for visa fees and trade licenses via cryptocurrencies. The supported crypto payment options are Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and Tether (USDT). Commenting on the move, Kiklabb CEO Tasawar Ulhaq said that the decision was in line with the growing appeal of crypto payments in the fintech arena, adding: “It really was just a matter of time before we recognized Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether. Cryptocurrencies are the payment method of the future.” Adopting cryptocurrency payment options is part of Kiklabb's plan of …

Following two years of pilot testing, a blockchain trade and financing platform for global agricultural trading has seen its commercial rollout from Swiss developer Cerealia SA. The launch follows extensive prelaunch trial implementation with firms from Algeria, Brazil, Dubai, Japan and Ukraine. In November 2018, Cointelegraph reported on the platform’s early use to conduct a pilot transaction of Black Sea wheat from the Russian port city of Novorossiysk. Cerealia told reporters that it has sought to address the need for a fast trading platform in the global Russian wheat market and to combine this with a more reliable, transparent and …

According to a Nov. 7 announcement, Ripple has established a regional office in the Dubai International Financial Centre, or DIFC. The blockchain-based payments firm reportedly chose the location for its “innovative regulations.” The DIFC website states the special economic zone serves more than 2,500 companies across the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia as an “independent regulator” with a “proven judicial system.” “Ripple already has a significant client base in the MENA [Middle East and North Africa] region and the opportunity to co-locate with our customers made DIFC a natural choice,” said Navin Gupta, a managing director at Ripple. “Our …

The World Trade Organization and Trade Finance Global have published their latest taxonomy of blockchain projects in international trade, arranged into what they present as a “periodic table” for the industry. The original rendition of the periodic table was published in winter 2019. Since then, a lot has changed: despite the pandemic, several indicators used in the table show that blockchain trade innovation projects worldwide are reaching ever greater maturity. On a scale of one to five, projects’ maturity was assessed as being 2.3 on average in Dec. 2019. As of this month, the same figure stands at 3.3. To …

This platform is set to become a nationwide system for exchanging verified customer data. Dubai’s Department of Economic Development, or DED, and state-run bank Emirates NBD are rolling out their so-called UAE KYC Blockchain Platform. 120 local firms already signed up for the platform with Emirates NBD First revealed in February 2020, the new blockchain platform is designed to unlock digital customer onboarding, instant bank account functions, and verified KYC data sharing between licensing authorities and financial institutions. Announcing the news on July 28, the DED and Emirates NBD said that the platform has over 120 companies already on-boarded by …

Wirecard chief operating officer Jan Marsalek reportedly used Bitcoin (BTC) to move funds from Dubai to Russia. Russian media outlet Kommersant reported on July 20 that Marsalek is hiding in Russia with funds that he was able to transfer there with the cryptocurrency. Per the report, Marsalek is currently in a private house near Moscow under the supervision of Russian special services. Documents leaked earlier this month also suggest that Marsalek indeed had links with Russian government operators. According to a recent report, he allegedly held secret documents and bragged of his intelligence service ties in an effort to further …

The COVID-19 pandemic is prompting supply chain actors worldwide to focus their energies on becoming more resilient through better digitization — and in particular through blockchain technology. One of the world’s leading ports operators, DP World, announced on May 28 that it would be joining TradeLens, the blockchain shipping platform created by IBM and Danish logistics giant Maersk. TradeLens is a global supply chain solution with a focus on containerized freight and logistics, which was first launched by IBM and Maersk back in April 2018. The platform’s broadening geographic scope and support for efficient, blockchain-based digital documentation flows appears to …

The United Arab Emirates is approaching its 2021 deadline for migrating at least 50% of all government transactions onto distributed ledger technology-based platforms. Cointelegraph spoke to Leon Smith, the CEO of Dex — an Abu Dhabi-based crypto firm that has been issued with an in-principle approval ahead of the country’s forthcoming regulatory framework for crypto asset trading — to discuss how blockchain technology is becoming embedded in daily life in the UAE. UAE’s blockchain deadline looms In 2018, the UAE launched the Emirate Blockchain Strategy 2021, outlining a plan to migrate at least 50% of government-related transactions onto DLT platforms …

Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Mashreq bank announced the launch of their new blockchain data-sharing platform on March 1st. This platform will allow licensed businesses and corporations to open digital bank accounts instantly by verifying their identities via an internal blockchain. Mashreq accomplishes this by removing the existing paper-based KYC procedure and replacing it with a blockchain-centric digital one. DIFC prepares each new KYC record as part of a company’s corporate license application. With the customer’s consent, this information is then shared electronically with Mashreq via the blockchain. The result is a simplification of the process companies currently go …

One of the financial hubs of the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is continuing to expand blockchain-driven developments. The Department of Economic Development (DED) of Dubai has established a Know Your Customer (KYC) blockchain consortium with six major banks. Dubbed “KYC Blockchain Consortium,” the new blockchain-powered regulatory platform is designed to accelerate processes like exchange of digital customer data and documents while ensuring security. The project also intends to bring a unified platform of KYC efforts among existing and future ecosystem members like qualified financial institutions and licensing authorities. UAE’s first KYC blockchain platform to launch in Q1 …

Major cryptocurrency exchange Huobi has partnered with a real estate firm in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to allow real estate investors to pay in cryptocurrencies. The Singapore-based crypto exchange has entered a partnership with fäm Properties, a tech-driven real estate agency based in Dubai, to offer crypto payment options for its real estate investors, UAE-based business publication AMEinfo.com reports Jan. 12. Crypto to enable more stability and liquidity in the real estate market Specifically, the partnership enables fäm Properties to accept payment in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), XRP and other major cryptos including stablecoins, the report reads. …

Earlier this week, the world’s flagship crypto asset saw its value surge from around the $8,000 mark to just over $8,430 within an hour’s time. This latest price action came after the Iranian government decided to launch a missile attack on an Iraqi military base housing American troops. However, it bears mentioning that Iran’s actions were prompted by United States President Donald Trump’s decision to eliminate Iranian general Qassem Soleimani — a controversial figure in the West but loved by the masses in his home country. The overall value of Bitcoin (BTC) is now up by around 15% this year, …