Today we have Abdulla Al Dhaheri, CEO of the Blockchain Center here in Abu Dhabi. Abdulla, welcome and thank you for joining us. Can we start with the basics — what is the Blockchain Center in Abu Dhabi and why was it created?
The Blockchain Center in Abu Dhabi is essentially an ecosystem player. We focus on multiple pillars — from investments to bringing companies into Abu Dhabi, creating joint ventures on strategic projects, and expanding our portfolio into other countries. We've believed in the potential of the digital asset ecosystem since the early days, and that's why we created the centre. It's been doing well.
What year was it created?
We created it in 2023.
Day to day, what does the centre do? For blockchain and digital asset companies coming into the UAE, is the Blockchain Center their first port of call?
I'd say we're one of the industry players companies come to early on. A lot of firms and institutions that come into the UAE reach out to us to navigate the market, understand what they could be doing here, and explore what we could potentially build together — whether that's investments, strategic projects, or partnerships. We've even had companies come to us saying: we do X, Y, and Z in other countries — could you come and do it with us there, or could we bring it to the UAE?
There are also other strong ecosystem players here, like Raider Ventures, who have been in this space even longer. The ecosystem has been building since as early as 2017, when ADGM first introduced regulations. Since then, the SCA at the federal level and VARA in Dubai have all introduced new sets of regulations and policies. This region has always been leaping forward, and I think there's still huge potential to build on that foundation.
Why is Abu Dhabi so firmly on the map as a digital assets hub — arguably a top-three destination globally?
The leadership vision of the UAE has always operated on a wider span. They don't stop at one specific point and say this is as far as we go. It's always forward-thinking — nobody here is going to stop innovation. That top-down support from leadership flows through to government entities, the public sector, and the private sector alike.
Regulations were in place back in 2017, before most people were even discussing digital assets. The infrastructure has been built over many years and today it reflects exactly where we sit in the global market. I always tell people — the UAE built itself over more than 50 years, and today you see the infrastructure that resulted. The same is true with digital assets.
If you're a serious founder or institution, what's the one big advantage Abu Dhabi provides?
Regulation, policy, and vision. Founders who come here see the support from sovereign funds, government entities, players like Hub71, and the private sector. There are huge opportunities for founders from around the world to come here and reap the rewards. Look at what the UAE has achieved in AI — and now in digital assets, you have the top two global exchanges headquartered here. There is a massive shift happening. I used to see friends heading to Silicon Valley. Now I call the UAE Silicon Valley 2.0.
If you had to describe the UAE's regulatory model for digital assets in simple terms, what would it be?
One word: conversation. The UAE has fast-moving, innovative regulators. Every time a regulator wants to introduce something, they go to industry experts, take their opinions, discuss with them, and shape policies collaboratively. They even go directly to the companies that are going to be regulated and ask: what do you think? Should we do this or that? You don't see that anywhere else in the world. Many regulators around the world enforce things that, in my opinion, push businesses away. The difference here is that dialog drives everything. When policies come out, people say — this works for everyone. That's the advantage.
And I can personally vouch for that — the regulators' appetite to truly understand the ecosystem and be proactive is unlike anything I've seen anywhere else.
And one more thing I'd add — we're in a fast-moving space. If we don't move today, someone else will. Regulators here understand that. You can't come in and force a stop on innovation. You listen, you adapt, you add policies and regulations on top of what emerges. And it always comes back to infrastructure — when the infrastructure is there, everything can be built on top of it.
Let's get a temperature check on investors. What are they focused on right now, and how are they feeling about the asset class?
The biggest focus right now is tokenized assets — and when we talk about tokenized assets, we're talking about a wide industry. People have been saying for two, three, four years that this is the future. I think today is that future. The industry is entering a shift where institutions are starting to look seriously at products — what serves the purpose of each institution, each retail client, each sector. That's where things are heading.
On the other hand, payments is a massive industry that's about to take off — cross-border payments, merchant payments, retail payments. We're going to see a new era of digital finance emerge. It's like the dot-com era all over again, and we have to keep up with it.
Abdulla, that's been incredible insight. Thank you so much for coming on the show.
