The city of Dubai has officially entered the metaverse. The Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA), has built a Metaverse HQ in the virtual world of ‘The Sandbox’. This move makes VARA the world’s first regulatory authority to enter the virtual realm.
VARA entered the metaverse to be accessible to the crypto industry in their own environment. VARA will also overlook and facilitate collaborative engagements among global Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), crypto industry leaders, and international regulatory authorities.
His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai and chairman of the Executive Council said, “VARA represents a serious effort to build a new, powerful economic sector that contributes to the nation’s economy and creates new investment opportunities, and this is possible through the safe and modern regulatory solutions we envision.”
He further stated that VARA is a mission-focused regulator which will nurture and scale the decentralized business and is built on four cornerstone principles of “secure cross-border interoperability, informed investor adoption, market protection prioritisation and responsible industry participation.”
Dubai is creating a prototype of a Decentralized Regulatory Model by extending its resources to a global audience. This move will allow ‘global authorities, governance custodians, and industry shapers’ to exchange knowledge, and collectively solve problems.
The inclusion and participation of global actors will lead to the development of a dynamic virtual assets sector to build ‘economic resilience, accelerate social inclusion, and address environmental sustainability.’
VARA’s headquarters in the metaverse will serve as a channel to engage VASPs across the globe to initiate applications and promote and enable entry of young licensees into the metaverse.
His Excellency Helal Saeed Almarri, the Director General of Dubai World Trade Center Authority said, “VARA’s acquiring land in the Sandbox is symbolic of our belief in this sector, and the onus is on us as government to be the bridge that allows investors and consumers to safely adopt, and collaboratively scale the economy.”
“In addition to yielding direct economic benefit and GDP acceleration for Dubai, the VARA sees this as the first step towards shared learning and expertise development across global regulators, so that the international community can benefit from a virtual economy that has been allowed to scale safely and sustainably.”
Dubai’s intention of becoming a hub for crypto development has been made clear by the UAE city. Earlier last month, Dubai laid out regulations for the crypto industry and then began to offer virtual asset licenses. Major crypto companies across the globe, including FTX, Binance, ByBit and even Crypto.com have all acquired virtual asset licenses from Dubai.
