- ADX is studying the infrastructure requirements needed for a digital and blockchain adoption
- Abu Dhabi a booming center for crypto asset development in the region
- ADX was the first bourse in the Middle East region to adopt blockchain technology
Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) is studying the infrastructure requirements needed for a digital and blockchain environment to identify the correct criteria for issuing crypto assets. The study will provide a reliable reference to support banking institutions handling the transition from traditional to crypto assets.
Steady Transition to Crypto-economy
The bourse says the thought paper has been issued in collaboration with the Central Securities Depositories (CSD) under the umbrella of the International Securities Service Association, ISSA. The CSD is responsible for exploring crypto assets and observe their potential in helping the market develop a secure and efficient environment for investors and issuers.
The Chief Executive Officer of ADX Rashed Al Blooshi said ADX will continue to manage the transition to digital assets which are developing rapidly in the Middle East. He underlined the importance of upgrading financial systems and integrating standards that will enhance investor confidence, raise infrastructural quality and prevent market fragmentation. Al Blooshi added:
“At ADX, we embrace new and innovative technology and are always looking to capitalize on advancements in Fintech; particularly in crypto-assets to optimize the benefits we offer to our investors and stakeholders.”
The UAE has in the past sent mixed signals about its regulatory position on crypto assets. October 2017 Abu Dhabi released what appeared like an ICO and cryptocurrency-friendly position even though it collided with reports from the Chairman of the Securities and Commodities Authority who is also Minister for Economy Al Mansouri who had warned against the use of cryptocurrencies.
The UAE has some of the most pro-business economic regulations in the world and hence a fast-growing economy. The economic freedom coupled with a friendly regulation regime is likely to make Abu Dhabi a booming center for crypto asset development in a region which is known to be openly skeptical about crypto development.
UAE has moved from a position of suspicion about everything blockchain and crypto to going almost full-time blockchain. The country’s financial regulator only last month launched a new regulatory framework that encompasses cryptocurrencies and related areas.
The Department of Tourism and Commerce marketing also announced it was taking submissions targeting startups keen on developing blockchain technologies to promote tourism while Dubai’s Department of Finance had inaugurated a blockchain-based payment processing system for government entities.
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange is notably the first bourse in the Middle East region to adopt the blockchain technology in its e-voting for listed companies’ AGMs while early this year it signed an MOU with SWIFT and leading CSDs to collaborate on implementing blockchain in trade and capital market transactions.
