Digital transformation begins in the Middle East

Recently, Mohsen Al-Zahrani was appointed to the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia to lead the Virtual Assets Division and the Central Bank’s digital currency program in reference to the potential crypto ambitions of Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has so far taken a more cautious approach to virtual assets, with officials raising concerns about their speculative nature.

According to a Bloomberg report, the emergence of the neighboring United Arab Emirates as a global hub for cryptocurrency has created some urgency in Riyadh to draft more formal rules for the digital asset class.

As for Mr. Al-Zahrani, he is the former managing director of Accenture Consulting, who will report to Ziad Al-Youssef, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank for Development and Technology.

According to the same aforementioned source, some people, who preferred to remain anonymous for a privacy issue, said they were part of a team in Riyadh dealing with some of the world's largest crypto companies on future regulations.

Saudi Arabia is urging companies to increase their presence in Riyadh as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's plans to turn the capital into a global hub.

Currently, Saudi Arabia is the largest economy in the Middle East, making it an attractive market for any company operating in the region.

Some of the biggest players in the crypto industry, including Binance, have been supplying and preparing to assign teams to Saudi Arabia, identifying the kingdom as a large untapped market if current restrictions are eased.

In 2018, Riyadh banned banks from processing transactions involving cryptocurrencies.

Despite that there are currently many solutions for trading.

It is worth noting that the Saudi government has been cooperating with the United Arab Emirates for several years on the launch of a possible joint digital currency called “Aber”.

Posted using Tribaldex Blog