What drives a desert nation with no historical ties to Silicon Valley to become one of the fastest-growing destinations for blockchain companies?
The question becomes more pressing when you consider that Dubai and Abu Dhabi now compete directly with established financial centers like Singapore, Hong Kong, and Switzerland for crypto capital. A new book published this month attempts to answer that question through interviews with the people who built the infrastructure.
Arabian Crypto, written by fintech executive Charles d'Haussy and journalist Jame DiBiasio, catalogs the UAE's transformation from crypto skeptic to digital asset advocate. The book arrives as the region processes an estimated $140 billion in annual crypto transaction volume, according to Chainalysis data from 2024. That figure places the Middle East ahead of Latin America and Africa combined.
The Regulatory Architecture That Changed Everything
The UAE's approach differed from other jurisdictions by creating purpose-built regulatory frameworks rather than adapting existing financial rules. In 2022, Dubai established the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA), the world's first standalone regulator for crypto assets. Abu Dhabi's Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) followed with its own framework focused on institutional adoption.
These bodies did not simply rubber-stamp applications. VARA rejected 60% of initial license requests in its first year, according to regulatory filings. The stringency created credibility. Major exchanges including Binance, Kraken, and OKX subsequently established regional headquarters in Dubai, citing regulatory clarity as the primary factor.
The book documents conversations with regulatory officials who designed these frameworks. Their stated goal was to separate legitimate blockchain innovation from speculative excess. This balance proved difficult for other countries. While the US debated whether cryptocurrencies were securities or commodities, the UAE built a system that treated digital assets as a distinct category requiring specialized oversight.
Why Billion-Dollar Firms Relocated to Dubai
Arabian Crypto includes interviews with executives who moved operations to the UAE. Their reasoning goes beyond favorable tax treatment. The book quotes Alex Manson, CEO of SC Ventures by Standard Chartered, who describes the work as
"an indispensable guide and who's who of digital assets in the region."
His firm launched Zodia Custody's Middle East operations from Abu Dhabi in 2023.
The decision factors mentioned throughout the book include three elements: licensing speed, regulatory engagement, and geographic positioning. Companies report receiving preliminary feedback on license applications within weeks rather than months. Regulators in Dubai and Abu Dhabi maintain regular dialogue with licensed firms, allowing policy adjustments based on market conditions.
The UAE's position between Asian and European markets also matters for 24-hour trading operations. A Dubai-based exchange can overlap with both Singapore morning sessions and London afternoon trading. This timezone advantage appears repeatedly in executive interviews as an underappreciated factor in location decisions.
The book also features insights from Arthur Hayes, CIO of Maelstrom Fund and co-founder of BitMEX, who calls it "a fascinating look at the stories and personalities that dominate the Middle East, where energy and money intersect." His observation connects the region's traditional energy wealth to its digital asset ambitions, suggesting capital redeployment from oil revenues into blockchain infrastructure.
What Nine Blocks Capital and Solana Found in Abu Dhabi
The book profiles specific firms that established operations in the UAE, offering case studies in market entry strategy. Nine Blocks Capital, a digital asset investment firm, chose Abu Dhabi for its institutional focus and regulatory framework suited to asset management. The firm's experience demonstrates how specialized crypto businesses navigate licensing across multiple UAE jurisdictions.
Solana Foundation's decision to expand into Dubai reflects broader infrastructure development in the region. The blockchain platform established local partnerships and developer programs, betting that the UAE would become a testing ground for decentralized applications in finance and logistics. The book documents how Solana's leadership assessed regulatory risk versus market opportunity when committing resources to the region.
Laser Digital, the digital asset subsidiary of Nomura, provides another perspective. As a traditional financial institution entering crypto markets, Laser Digital required regulatory certainty before deploying capital. The firm's Abu Dhabi office now manages digital asset trading and custody services for institutional clients across the Middle East.
These examples illustrate different pathways into the UAE market: investment funds, protocol foundations, and bank subsidiaries each faced distinct regulatory requirements. The book's value lies in showing how these varied entities navigated the same general framework.
The Cultural Context Western Firms Often Miss
Arabian Crypto devotes significant attention to business practices that differ from Western norms. The authors explain that successful companies in the UAE invest time in relationship building before formal partnerships. This cultural element affects deal timelines and negotiation structures.
The book also addresses the role of government-linked entities in the UAE's blockchain ecosystem. Unlike purely private sector development in the US or Europe, UAE crypto growth involves coordination between regulators, sovereign wealth funds, and private firms. Understanding this public-private dynamic becomes necessary for companies planning Middle East expansion.
Language presents another consideration. While English dominates business communication, Arabic remains important for certain regulatory filings and local partnerships. The book includes perspectives from bilingual executives who bridge these linguistic contexts.
The Book's Limitations and What It Reveals
Arabian Crypto focuses primarily on success stories, which limits critical analysis of failures or regulatory missteps. The UAE has seen its share of crypto projects that failed to gain traction or companies that departed after initial entry. A more comprehensive treatment would examine these cases alongside the successes.
The book also arrives at a specific moment in crypto market cycles. Written during a period of relative stability following the 2022 market crash, it may not capture how UAE regulators respond during the next period of extreme volatility or systemic stress.
Despite these limitations, the work fills a gap in understanding how a non-Western jurisdiction approached digital asset regulation. Most crypto policy analysis centers on US, European, or Asian approaches. The UAE offers a different model that prioritizes speed and specialization over comprehensive integration with existing financial law.
Market Impact and What Comes Next
The UAE's crypto sector now employs an estimated 8,000 people across licensed firms, according to government statistics. This workforce supports trading volumes that rank the region among the top ten crypto markets globally. The Dubai Blockchain Strategy aims to position the emirate as a global blockchain capital by 2027, with government services and private sector applications running on distributed ledger technology.
Arabian Crypto documents the foundation of this expansion but leaves open questions about sustainability. Can the UAE maintain its competitive position as other countries improve their regulatory frameworks? Will the concentration of crypto activity in Dubai create systemic risks if a major exchange fails?
The book also highlights the region's ambition to move beyond trading and custody into blockchain development. The UAE has invested in Web3 infrastructure, non-fungible token platforms, and decentralized finance protocols. Whether these investments produce technical innovation comparable to the US or Asia remains uncertain.
A Template or an Exception?
Arabian Crypto succeeds in documenting a regulatory experiment that produced measurable results. The UAE converted policy clarity into business migration, demonstrating that crypto companies value predictable rules even when those rules impose compliance costs. This finding has implications for jurisdictions still debating their approach to digital assets.
The book's journalist-executive author pairing produces a work that balances technical accuracy with readability. DiBiasio's reporting background ensures proper sourcing and fact-checking, while d'Haussy's industry experience provides insider perspective on regulatory decisions. For readers seeking a comprehensive history of crypto in the Middle East, this book delivers. For those looking for critical analysis of potential downsides or comparative study with other jurisdictions, it falls short. The promotional elements in the book's introduction and conclusion undermine its analytical credibility in places.
The fundamental question Arabian Crypto raises is whether the UAE model can be replicated. Small, resource-rich nations with centralized decision-making structures may find it easier to implement specialized crypto regulations than large federal democracies with divided regulatory authority. The book provides a case study but not a universal blueprint. As digital assets continue integrating with traditional finance, understanding how different regions regulate this integration becomes important. Arabian Crypto contributes to that understanding by documenting one of the most aggressive and successful attempts to build a crypto-friendly jurisdiction from scratch.
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