The city of Ras Al Khaimah (RAK), United Arab Emirates, intends to introduce a free zone for digital and virtual asset companies. The Ras Al Khaimah government says this free zone will be called the RAK Digital Assets Oasis. This advertisement was recently held at the Blockchain Life 2023 international forum.
The reason behind such a decision could be that the UAE wants to invite global crypto companies to establish themselves in Ras Al Khaimah, one of the seven Emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). With this new movement, the free zone will allow innovation for unregulated activities within the virtual asset space.
Sheikh Mohammed Al Qasmi, Chairman of the RAK ICC, announced:
We are proud to further the UAE’s position as a premier destination for innovation with the launch of RAK Digital Assets Oasis. We are building the free zone of the future for the companies of the future. As the world’s first free zone exclusively dedicated to digital and virtual asset companies, we look forward to supporting the ambitions of entrepreneurs around the world.
This free zone for digital and virtual asset service providers will reportedly be open for applications in the second quarter of 2023.
What is a free zone exactly?
A free zone, or free trade zone, is an economic area where companies and entrepreneurs will have full ownership of their businesses. This also means that entrepreneurs have the right to have their own tax schemes and regulatory frameworks; this preferential structure, however, will not include UAE criminal law.
A virtual asset free zone will include digital asset service providers from the sectors of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), blockchain, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), utility tokens, the metaverse, and any other business that is connected to crypto. . web3 ecosystem.
The United Arab Emirates, specifically, has been very welcoming to the virtual asset industry. It has dedicated resources to invest and develop its infrastructure to support the growth of the digital asset industry. The UAE has also developed policies to help entrepreneurs in this space as the country looks to expand beyond its oil-based economy.
This free zone will encourage virtual asset companies through the adoption of frameworks that help accelerators and incubators in the digital and virtual asset industries. This zone will provide advisory services, sandboxes and hybrid workspaces. There will be access to finance as well. RAK Digital Assets Oasis will also support this business-friendly infrastructure by providing progressive policies.
What does the Federal Virtual Goods Law of the country establish?
The Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) is the main financial regulator of the UAE. In accordance with the SCA and the most recent federal law on virtual assets, the SCA has the authority to govern the industry in all of the Emirates, in addition to the financial free zones, which include the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and Dubai International. Finance. Center (DIFC).
ADGM and DIFC have their own sets of financial regulators. In the United Arab Emirates, new free zones have added more than 40 multidisciplinary companies, including many crypto, blockchain and Web3 startups. This includes the Dubai Multi Commodities Center (DMCC), DIFC and ADGM.
Featured Image from UnSplash, Chart from TradingView.com
