September 30, 2022
By Tsering Namgyal
Dubai may have the savviest crypto regulatory regime in the world, a conference* in Singapore heard.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is getting it right having set up a dedicated crypto authority that is independent of the banking regulators, experts told a panel discussion.
“So far on the policy side, I think better (model) is one in the UAE, where regulators working very well with the private sector,” said Reno Mathews, chief compliance officer of US-based crypto firm Trulioo.
Dubai’s new crypto regime Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) is handing out crypto licenses fast which makes it one of the most advanced regulatory regimes, he said.
“That is why crypto firms are moving there,” he said.
Malcolm Wright, director of regulatory affairs, APAC at blockchain industry body GBBC Digital Finance said that while countries like UK has “thoughtful regulations” in place, “UAE is moving at light speed” towards creating smart crypto regulations.
In the US, the government is still trying to figure out how to properly regulate with different authorities setting up different crypto agencies.
Such a convoluted regulatory regime might slowdown the evolution of crypto regulations in the states, said Ari Redbord, head of legal and government affairs at crypto compliance firm TRM labs.
At the regulatory side, “it is so early,” he said, during the panel discussion on regulations at the conference.
Mathews of Truiloo said that currently the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) due diligence rules leaves much to be desired.
He said that the customers onboarding is time consuming as each crypto exchange need to do a KYC at each exchange that they wish to trade on.
KYC utilities where customers save their KYC data does not work well, he added.
*Token2049, Singapore, September 28-29
About the author
Tsering Namgyal is the chief content officer of NFTmetta.com
