- Bybit exchange announced they will open their global headquarters in Dubai, UAE.
- The crypto exchange received the approval to conduct virtual asset business in UAE and move its global headquarters to Dubai.
- UAE aspires to become a global capital for virtual assets and other sectors like the metaverse.
Crypto exchange Bybit announced the plan to open its global headquarters in Dubai, UAE. ByBit announced the move during the joint press conference with the UAE Ministry of Economy at the World Government Summit 2022, March 28. The UAE’s latest moves aim to become a center for the virtual asset sector.
This month, Dubai issued its first law governing virtual assets as well as forming the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) to oversee the sector. Notably, Dubai is the UAE’s trade hub.
Bybit stated:
Bybit has received in-principle approval to conduct a full spectrum of virtual assets business in Dubai.
The Dubai office is expected to start operations in April, the firm added.
This month, Dubai VARA issued virtual asset licenses to the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance; and FTX Europe, a subsidiary of one of the largest crypto exchanges FTX. Binance and FTX will set up regional offices in the city.
The UAE has been driving to form the virtual asset sector alongside new regulations to attract new forms of business as regional economic competition heats up.
Furthermore, Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism Director General, His Excellency Helal Saeed Al Marri, said, “the UAE aspires to become a global capital for virtual assets and other sectors like the metaverse.”
He added:
“We see the talent movement coming here, we see major corporates, banks, other multinationals that are starting to tiptoe into the space, choosing the UAE as their home to do that.”
Internationally, regulators worry about how a breakdown in crypto assets – markets that are highly volatile and still opaque – would feed into the wider financial sector.