The UAE is looking to boost its cross-border payments while also enhancing its domestic financial infrastructure. This comes after the Central Bank of the UAE announced the issue of CBDC, short for central bank digital currency. The issuance of CBDC comes as a part of the financial infrastructure transformation program.

The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) is planning to launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for cross-border and domestic use as part of the first of its newly-launched financial infrastructure transformation (FIT) program. 

Crypto exchange Kraken has wound down operations in its Abu Dhabi office after less than a year in the UAE. The exchange has also suspended support for transactions in the UAE Dirham currency. But its users in the region will still be able to access the platform with their balances automatically converted from Dirhams to US dollars, which can still be withdrawn alongside other fiat currencies it supports.

The United Arab Emirates’ virtual assets regulator, the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), has not issued any operating license to date, the country’s digital economy minister Omar Sultan Al Olama has said. Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF), Al Olama reportedly said that no crypto exchange entity including Binance and FTX has been granted the full market product (FMP) license.

The United Arab Emirates plans to use crypto for trade in the future and also set up a working regulatory framework, according to the country's minister of state for foreign trade. 

Crypto will play a “major role” in the United Arab Emirates' global trade moving forward, says the UAE’s minister of state for foreign trade Thani Al-Zeyoudi.

UAE’s crypto company is considering bidding for FTX’s payment business once the court approves sales.

Sygnum, Switzerland’s digital asset bank, has been granted regulatory approval to expand its operations into the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Local news outlet The National Business&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/cryptocurrencies/2022/11/23/swiss-digital-asset-bank-sygnum-secures-in-principle-approval-to-operate-in-abu-dhabi/" target="_blank">noted in a report</a>&nbsp;today that Sygnum has obtained in-principle approval from the Abu Dhabi Global Markets’ Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA). The approval will allow Sygnum to cater to the growing demand for cryptocurrencies in the region.&nbsp;