Saudi Arabia leaves caution behind to turn Riyadh into a global cryptocurrency hub.
In the past year, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has positioned itself as a global haven for the cryptocurrency industry, prompting its neighbor Saudi Arabia to abandon all caution and move in the same direction. Proof of this is that the country’s banking regulator has chosen Mohsen AlZahrani -former managing director of the consulting firm Accenture- as the new director of the entity’s digital assets and currencies program.
To date, Saudi Arabia had shown no interest in the world of digital assets. Quite the opposite, with its officials warning of their speculative nature and even prohibiting banks from carrying out transactions with them.
Now, instead, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has set out to turn Riyadh into a global cryptocurrency hub. To do this, he is pressing to provide a regulatory framework for this industry, while pressuring companies to increase their presence in the capital of the largest economy in the Middle East, according to Bloomberg.
Some of the main companies in the sector -such as Binance- have also seen the potential of the country, which they see as a largely untapped market, as long as the current regulations are relaxed. To be prepared in case it happens, the cryptocurrency exchange platform already has a team in the country.
For its part, the United Arab Emirates made public earlier this year its plan to issue federal licenses to companies related to cryptocurrencies, with the aim of allowing them to operate in the country freely. In addition, the UAE Securities and Commodities Authority is working on the creation of legislation that allows companies in the sector to establish themselves in the country.