Dubai Onboards Solana as Blockchain Ecosystem Partner for DMCC Free Economic Zone

Solana will now set up an operating space in DMCC’s crypto centre and initiate collaborations with existing 23,000 firms currently operating from the economic zone.

Written by Radhika Parashar, Edited by Siddharth Suvarna | Updated: 16 October 2023 17:15 IST

Dubai Onboards Solana as Blockchain Ecosystem Partner for DMCC Free Economic Zone

Photo Credit: Solana Foundation

Solana is ecofriendly and is often pitted in competition against Ethereum

Highlights

The DMCC economic zone currently houses 23,000 firms
Solana has a market valuation of $8 billion
Solana Foundation will now set up a presence in the DMCC

Dubai is accelerating efforts to upgrade the infrastructure needed to foster advanced Web3 ecosystem there. Dubai has chosen Solana Foundation to provide the blockchain infrastructure for its free economic zone, called the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC). With this partnership, Dubai aims to help the members of the DMCC develop on blockchain and scale their business. As the G20 nations work on crafting a globally acceptable crypto framework, Europe and parts of the UAE like Abu Dhabi and Dubai have begun initiatives to establish themselves as crypto hubs.

Solana will now set up an operating space in DMCC's crypto centre and initiate collaborations with existing 23,000 firms currently operating from the economic zone, which includes technology partners, exchanges, government entities, investors, incubators, and service providers.

With a market valuation of $8 billion (roughly Rs. 66,622 crore), the DMCC has called Solana one of the most prominent blockchains in the world. The blockchain is said to be ecofriendly and is often pitted in competition against Ethereum in-terms of its useability.

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“We will provide complimentary set up and business licensing for Solana ecosystem projects whilst our members can access a world-class blockchain platform and dedicated Solana engineering teams that can take their businesses to new heights,” said Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, DMCC in an official statement.

The DMCC boasts that its economic zone is offering the largest concentration of crypto, blockchain, and Web3 businesses across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

“We look forward to working with members of the Crypto Centre to onboard them to our chain, as well as introducing our existing ecosystem to DMCC so they can also scale their operations,” said Dan Albert, Executive Director, Solana Foundation, commenting on the development.

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In March this year, Dubai released rules around crypto-based activities and services for corporate firms to adhere to. The administration there is charging $27,000 (roughly Rs. 22 lakh) for crypto firms seeking operational permissions.

The world's first hotel, designed after the symbol of Bitcoin, is also being constructed in Dubai professing support for the digital assets industry.

As for Solana, its parent firm Solana Labs is planning to let its users garner awareness and education-oriented content around cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens, and blockchain via a ChatGPT-like plugin.

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Further reading: Cryptocurrency, Dubai, DMCC, Free Economic Zone

Radhika Parashar

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Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More