According to the head of the Dubai World Trade Center, this reflects the government’s desire to promote the creation of a new borderless market

Dubai’s virtual asset regulator to set up headquarters at The Sandbox

03.05.2022 - 14:20

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2 min

What’s new? Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) has announced its entry into The Sandbox metaverse with the establishment of its headquarters in the virtual world. The move demonstrates the Dubai government’s confidence that cryptocurrency is an integral part of the future digital economy, the WAM news agency reports.

Information on the WAM website

What do the experts say? The head of the Dubai World Trade Center (DWTC), Helal Saeed Almarri, said the city views the virtual asset industry as a driver of the global future economy. According to him, VARA’s headquarters in The Sandbox metaverse will make the UAE the first jurisdiction to enter the virtual platform. This reflects the government’s desire to foster a new borderless marketplace that provides sustainable economic freedom, Almarri concluded.

Speaking about VARA’s entry into the metaverse, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum noted:

“VARA has been established as a mission-focused Regulator, to nurture and safely scale a rapidly decentralizing business landscape.”

What is known about The Sandbox? It was created as a mobile game in 2011, and a PC version was added in 2015. In 2018, The Sandbox was bought by Animoca Brands and started working on a blockchain version. As of 2022, it is a virtual world powered by Ethereum. The platform has the native token SAND.

What happened before? In March, British bank HSBC bought a plot of land in the Sandbox metaverse. In April, Standard Chartered Bank of Hong Kong partnered with the platform.

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