UAE will use crypto for foreign trade

The UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade said that crypto will play a major role in its foreign trade transactions.

Crypto outlook improving

The economic environment for crypto seems to be improving, as the Federal Reserve appears to be committed to toning down its hawkish rate rises throughout 2023, with a pivot to come sooner rather than later.

Even with what could be seen as some quite harsh regulation coming into play at some point in certain jurisdictions across the world, E.G. MiCA in Europe, many are starting to see how Bitcoin and crypto can play a part in economies.

For the foreign trade minister of the United Arab Emirates to come out and say that “Crypto will play a major role for UAE trade going forward,” is a pretty huge statement of intent, and one that will get many governments to focus even more keenly on the sector.

Thani Al-Zeyoudi, the UAE’s minister of state for foreign trade, was being interviewed for Bloomberg Television while attending the Davos conference. The minister outlined how his country was trying to attract projects with its favourable outlook on crypto. He said:

“The most important thing is that we ensure global governance when it comes to cryptocurrencies and crypto companies. We started attracting some of the companies to the country with the aim that we’ll build together the right governance and legal system, which are needed.”

Global governance for crypto?

Global governance for crypto might be a difficult feat to achieve, given that there are many differing views on just how to regulate the sector. For example, the US SEC has dithered for years over the question of whether most cryptocurrencies constitute securities. Failure to clear up conflicts on the subject and impose proper regulation, has allowed some bad actors to operate in the crypto sector.

Also, given that the US and Europe have very large and influential banking sectors, there is much internal pressure on lawmakers to over-regulate or even ban crypto. This is not likely to sit well with countries, perhaps like UAE, that have a more progressive approach.

Another of the UAE’s ministers, Omar Sultan Al Olama, who is also attending the World Economic Forum at Davos, backed up the line of his ministerial colleague by affirming that his nation was “committed” to becoming a world cryptocurrency hub.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.