Ras Al Khaimah, one of the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) seven Emirates, is set to launch a new free zone dedicated to digital and virtual asset service providers.
The RAK Digital Assets Oasis (RAK DAO) aims to be a “purpose-built, innovation-enabling free zone for non-regulated activities in the virtual assets sector.” Applications for the free zone will open in Q2 of 2023.
The free zone will be solely dedicated to non-regulated activities in the virtual assets sector, such as the metaverse, blockchain, utility tokens, nonfungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), decentralized applications (DApps), and other Web3-related businesses.
The RAK DAO is the first free zone solely dedicated to digital and virtual asset companies, according to Sheikh Mohammed bin Humaid bin Abdullah Al Qasimi, the chairman of the RAK International Corporate Centre. The free zone aims to support entrepreneurs from all over the world.
The new free zone will add to the more than 40 multidisciplinary free zones in the UAE that have attracted numerous crypto, blockchain and Web3 firms, including the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), and the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM).
Entrepreneurs looking to launch a crypto exchange will have to wait, as RAK DAO will start with non-financial activities first, according to Dubai-based crypto lawyer Irina Heaver.
The Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) is the UAE’s main financial regulator, and it has authority throughout the Emirates, except for the financial free zones. The RAK DAO is expected to introduce financial activities at a later stage.
