The Dubai Multi Commodities Center (DMCC) has teamed up with TDeFi, a Web3 incubator and consulting firm, to offer a new accelerator program for Web3 and blockchain companies in Dubai.
The accelerator programme, which aims to attract new crypto businesses to Dubai, will offer mentorship and sessions on a range of topics related to crypto and scaling a business at the DMCC Crypto Centre.
The month-long program will run for a minimum of two editions over the next 12 months, with interested companies receiving priority guidance and services from DMCC to formally set up at the Cryptocentre. The center is a comprehensive ecosystem for companies developing Web3 and blockchain technologies and offers crypto businesses and entrepreneurs solutions to set up and scale their business.
“Through its crypto center, DMCC has established a leading ecosystem of Web3 and blockchain businesses, and therefore there is no better place for us to run our latest accelerator program,” said Gaurav Dubey, CEO of TDeFi in a statement.
TDeFi will select a handful of startups to be part of its in-depth incubation program at the end of each cohort, giving them access to additional TDeFi advisory services and its growing ecosystem.
DMCC has entered into a partnership with @TDe_Fi to offer an accelerator program dedicated to #web3 and #blockchain companies at our state-of-the-art facilities. The program will provide our #crypto members with access to mentorship and entrepreneurial opportunities: pic.twitter.com/o3FfQ41A5R
— DMCC Crypto Center (@dmcccrypto) 24 February 2023
The DMCC Crypto Center is currently home to over 550 members, making it the largest concentration of Web3 and blockchain companies in the MENA region.
The center partnered with global venture capital firm Brinc last October to give Web3 and blockchain companies access to a $150 million accelerator fund.
Wall Street of Crypto
The UAE has been pushing to develop virtual asset regulations to attract new forms of business as part of a broader strategy to scale up its digital economy. Dubai has grown into the Wall Street of the crypto world over the years as the Middle East’s business and financial hub has worked to lure companies into the crypto ecosystem with its crypto-friendly policies.
“By offering everything crypto businesses and entrepreneurs need to thrive, we have emphatically positioned Dubai as a leading hub for crypto,” Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and CEO of DMCC said in the statement.
Read: Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority issues regulations for 2023
Dubai passed its first law governing virtual assets and established the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) as a regulator for the sector almost a year ago. Since then, several crypto firms including Binance, Kraken, BitOasis, Rain as well as Bybit and Crypto.com have received virtual asset licenses to operate in the UAE.
Chainalysis, a blockchain analytics firm, said Dubai has become a hub for crypto companies serving clients across Asia and Africa, not just the Middle East, according to Sub-Saharan Africa and Central and South Asia.
The UAE is the Middle East’s fifth largest crypto market with a transaction volume of around $48 billion between July 2021 and June 2022, according to data compiled by the platform.
In other news, around $37.4 billion worth of diamonds were traded in the United Arab Emirates last year in 2022, ranking the country as the top hub for rough trade in the world. Since 2015, the UAE has increased its trade in rough diamonds by 76 percent.
