(Kitco News) - The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region continues to be one of the fastest-growing hubs for cryptocurrency adoption with the launch of a new crypto-focused association in Abu Dhabi’s free economic zone.
The Middle East, Africa & Asia Crypto & Blockchain Association (MEAACBA) officially launched on Nov. 8 in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) with the goal of facilitating the development of blockchain and crypto ecosystems across the MENA region.
ADGM is a free economic zone based in the center of the city that is subject to its own set of civil and commercial laws. It was originally created to help further the growth of fintech companies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
MEAACBA was created as a nonprofit organization with the intent to “support, enable and grow blockchain-crypto ecosystems across the Association’s core regions.” It will do so by focusing on education, coordination, and innovation for participants across the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
Jehanzeb Awan, the founder and CEO of J. Awan & Partners, an international risk and compliance consulting firm headquartered in Dubai, has been chosen to lead the new association as its board chairman.
“MEAACBA will bring the knowledge, connections and gravitas needed to create wide reaching benefits for this highly dynamic and exciting space,” Awan said. “The industry will benefit from the Association as it provides a coordination mechanism between regulators, government agencies, banks, legal, tax and advisory firms to address the most pressing challenges.”
Other members of the association’s governing board include Richard Teng, Binance’s regional head of MENA, Stuart Isted, Crypto.com’s general manager of Middle East and Africa, and Ola Doudin, CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange BitOasis.
Membership in MEAACBA is open to all companies and individuals residing in the Middle East, Asia and Africa that are involved with the blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystem. “This includes but is not limited to exchanges, custodians, consulting firms, technology developers, digital asset traders and NFT/ Metaverse firms,” the statement said.
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The launch of MEAACBA follows the release of a set of “Guiding Principles” on navigating the regulatory complexities of the digital asset industry, which were developed by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) – the financial regulator of ADGM’s free economic zone.
The principles are seen as “crypto-friendly” while still complying with some of the strict international standards on Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorism Financing (CFT) by the United Nations.
ADGM will be hosting the 2022 Abu Dhabi Finance week from Nov. 14-18, where it will showcase the role the UAE plays in supporting fintech companies. According to ADGM’s chairman Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi, MEAACBA’s addition will help contribute to a much more “progressive financial sector” in the region.
