Also known as free trade zones, free zones in the UAE are places that are favorable for entrepreneurs. In these places, the latter are totally the owners of their companies. They have the flexibility to follow their own tax regimes and regulatory frameworks aside from UAE criminal law. That said, continuing with its strategy of attracting more crypto players, an emirate decides to launch a free zone. The region in question is Ras Al Khaimah.
Ras Al Khaimah wants to offer a free trade zone for crypto businesses
Ras Al Khaimah is one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He recently announced that he wants to launch a free zone for companies specializing in digital and virtual assets. The press release announcing the news indicates that applications for the new project will be open from the second quarter. Moreover, it appears that the free trade area will be called RAK Digital Assets Oasis (RAK DAO). It will be entirely focused on innovation ” for unregulated activities in the virtual asset sector“.
In the new free zone, we should find the companies of different areas related to crypto. Among the latter, we distinguish the metaverse and the blockchain. There will also be providers of utility tokens, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and digital wallets. Web3-related businesses including DAOs and dApps providers will also be able to offer their services in the zone.
The president of the RAK International Corporate Centre, the operator of the new free zone, made a statement on the subject. Indeed, Sheikh Mohammed bin Humaid bin Abdullah Al Qasimi has affirmed : “We are building the free zone of the future for the companies of the future“. He added : “As the world’s first free zone solely dedicated to digital and virtual goods businesses, we look forward to supporting the ambitions of entrepreneurs around the world.“.
Irina Heaver, a crypto lawyer in Dubai, gave her opinion on the subject. For her :“RAK DAO will start with non-financial activities, then may introduce financial activities at a later stage“. She pointed out that at first, entrepreneurs will not be able to launch crypto exchanges in the free zone. She clarified that the exchange of cryptocurrencies is a financial activity regulated by the ESCA.
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