Ripple Launches Effort to Promote Blockchain Innovation in UAE

Blockchain solutions provider Ripple is set to team up with Dubai’s DIFC Innovation Hub.

The collaboration is designed to accelerate blockchain and digital assets innovation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Ripple announced Wednesday (Aug. 7), connecting developers with the DIFC Hub, home to more than 1,000 growth-stage tech companies, digital labs, venture capital outfits, regulators and educational entities.

“The UAE is one of the most advanced jurisdictions globally when it comes to offering regulatory clarity for licensed firms to offer virtual asset services and fostering an environment in which the next generation of financial innovation can flourish,” Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said in a news release.

“Our partnership with the DIFC Innovation Hub promises to drive the adoption of blockchain technology in the region as the XRPL continues to be a leading blockchain for the region’s start-ups and scaleups building real use cases.”

According to the release, Ripple has committed one billion XRP to accelerate development and new global use cases on its XRP Ledger blockchain, providing financial, technical and business support to developers.

“Since announcing the 1B XRP Fund in late 2021, Ripple has funded over 160 teams building on the XRPL, reaching 47 countries to date, across a wide range of use cases spanning decentralized finance (DeFi), to Real World Assets (RWA), and other groundbreaking new solutions,” the release said.

The partnership comes as American blockchain/crypto firms look to countries like the UAE amid pressure from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“What we are seeing, where it’s the UK, Japan, Singapore … even the European Union, more than two dozen countries have come together to provide a framework for crypto regulation,” Garlinghouse told Bloomberg News last month at the Republican National Convention.

“It’s frustrating that we as a country can’t get that framework in place. And instead, we have this interminable litigation coming from the SEC that really isn’t solving the problem.”

Meanwhile, research by PYMNTS Intelligence and Visa finds that the UAE is home to a digitally-engaged populace, with 89% of retail shoppers — and 45% of grocery shoppers — using digital tools while browsing in physical stores.

“And, when surveyed about the quality of their digital shopping features, respondents shared what turned out to be the second highest level of customer satisfaction among the six countries we studied,” PYMNTS wrote in June. “This likely explains why 71% of UAE consumers used digital features to enhance their most recent shopping experience.”