Binance, crypto firms optimistic about UAE amid potential US regulatory shift
Binance and other cryptocurrency firms based in the United Arab Emirates are optimistic that the country will remain a hotspot for virtual assets despite a potential shift to the United States should the Western superpower become a more crypto-friendly jurisdiction.
The “regulation by enforcement” regime in the U.S. has pushed global crypto firms to move to locations such as the UAE, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Singapore. However, the idea that companies could potentially return to the U.S. should there be a change in direction was floated during a panel discussion on Dec. 11 at the Global Blockchain Congress event in Dubai .
Highlighting the UAE’s approach toward technology and innovation, Alex Chehade, Binance’s general manager for the Middle East and North Africa, said the local government has built infrastructures around numerous initiatives that encompass not just AI but also Web3, sustainability and other verticals:
“[People exiting] wouldn’t be the worry. We’d probably be worried [about], ‘do we have enough infrastructure for people coming in?’”
“The track record is there… We’ve got the education system, healthcare system, the roads, the trains. Where else would you relocate? To the other jurisdictions? They’re not issuing Visas. They don’t have the infrastructure,” he added.
Chehade said Binance, which recently withdrew its fund manager license in Abu Dhabi and saw its former CEO Changpeng Zhao plead guilty as part of a $4.3 billion settlement with U.S. agencies, will stay in the region, with its custody license in the UAE capital, and operational minimum viable product permit for exchange and brokerage services in Dubai.
Meanwhile, Feras Al Sadek, managing partner at blockchain private investment firm Ghaf Capital Partners, argued that the UAE leads through its “regulation by education,” highlighting local regulators’ approach of actively supporting projects through various engagements, including conferences and meetups. He said:
“It’s very hard to find regulators… fighting, educating and supporting these companies. So that I think is a key differentiator between us and the rest of the world.”
Al Sadek also pointed out the UAE’s goal of becoming a tech industry leader by employing thousands of personnel in emerging technologies, including 30,000 in artificial intelligence by 2030.
Related: Dubai regulator grants crypto license to Bahrain’s CoinMENA
Crypto Oasis Ventures co-founder Faisal Zaidi said that the UAE’s lifestyle and business community have made it appealing for nonresidents to stay, adding, “You come in with a plan [to live here short-term], but because of how your life is here… the communities and the ecosystem, people end up staying. He added:
“Maybe there [will be] a slowdown in newer organizations coming, but the ones that are here are going to stay.”
The wave of government enforcement against crypto companies in the U.S. has pushed away crypto firms, with industry leaders suggesting crypto startups should avoid the jurisdictions for the time being and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), headed by chair Gary Gensler, earning the ire of the crypto community.
However, the landscape may be shifting toward a more favorable direction for the crypto community, with U.S. Senators Cynthia Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand reintroducing a bill to create a crypto regulatory framework in July.
Most RWAs remain isolated and underutilized instead of composable, DeFi-ready building blocks. It’s time to change that.
Thousands of savers face potential losses after a $2.7 million shortfall was discovered at Ziglu, a British crypto fintech that entered special administration.
Politics
Heidi Alexander says ‘fairness’ will be government’s ‘guiding principle’ when it comes to taxes at next budget
Another hint that tax rises are coming in this autumn’s budget has been given by a senior minister.
Speaking to Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander was asked if Sir Keir Starmer and the rest of the cabinet had discussed hiking taxes in the wake of the government’s failed welfare reforms, which were shot down by their own MPs.
Trevor Phillips asked specifically if tax rises were discussed among the cabinet last week – including on an away day on Friday.
Politics Hub: Catch up on the latest
Tax increases were not discussed “directly”, Ms Alexander said, but ministers were “cognisant” of the challenges facing them.
Asked what this means, Ms Alexander added: “I think your viewers would be surprised if we didn’t recognise that at the budget, the chancellor will need to look at the OBR forecast that is given to her and will make decisions in line with the fiscal rules that she has set out.
“We made a commitment in our manifesto not to be putting up taxes on people on modest incomes, working people. We have stuck to that.”
Ms Alexander said she wouldn’t comment directly on taxes and the budget at this point, adding: “So, the chancellor will set her budget. I’m not going to sit in a TV studio today and speculate on what the contents of that budget might be.
“When it comes to taxation, fairness is going to be our guiding principle.”
Read more:
Reeves won’t rule out tax rises
What is a wealth tax and how would it work?
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Afterwards, shadow home secretary Chris Philp told Phillips: “That sounds to me like a barely disguised reference to tax rises coming in the autumn.”
He then went on to repeat the Conservative attack lines that Labour are “crashing the economy”.
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Chris Philp also criticsed the government’s migration deal with France
Mr Philp then attacked the prime minister as “weak” for being unable to get his welfare reforms through the Commons.
Discussions about potential tax rises have come to the fore after the government had to gut its welfare reforms.
Sir Keir had wanted to change Personal Independence Payments (PIP), but a large Labour rebellion forced him to axe the changes.
With the savings from these proposed changes – around £5bn – already worked into the government’s sums, they will now need to find the money somewhere else.
The general belief is that this will take the form of tax rises, rather than spending cuts, with more money needed for military spending commitments, as well as other areas of priority for the government, such as the NHS.
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