From the valley to oasis: Swiss and Dubai crypto associations team up

Switzerland-based Crypto Valley Association will partner with Dubai’s Crypto Oasis to collaborate in the ongoing development of the blockchain industry in both countries.

The Crypto Valley Association (CVA), based in the Swiss Canton of Zug’s self-proclaimed ‘crypto valley,’ will spearhead the partnership with its counterpart in Dubai to connect a growing group of blockchain communities in Switzerland and the Middle East.

Both associations were founded by Ralf Glabischnig, who played a major role in Zug's establishment as a center for blockchain and cryptocurrency organizations. The likes of the Ethereum Foundation were born in the area, as Cointelegraph Magazine previously explored.  The new partnership between the Swiss and UAE-based associations is set to establish connections and information sharing between businesses in both countries.

Crypto Oasis’ co-founder Faisal Zaidi will spearhead the CVA-led initiative in Dubai, which already has more than 1,100 UAE-based organizations involved in its growing ecosystem. Zaidi highlighted Dubai’s efforts to emulate Zug’s adoption and promotion of blockchain-based businesses, products and services in a statement from the announcement:

“This alliance will connect a fragmented blockchain world by connecting Switzerland, which is at the forefront of disruptive technology, with the Middle East, which is all set to become the new hub for crypto and blockchain.”

CVA has already carried out a similar initiative, setting up a Latin American chapter in July 2022, which taps into the burgeoning cryptocurrency and blockchain sector in South America.

According to the announcement, CVA has extended an invitation to the Dubai International Financial Centre to visit Zug to identify blockchain organizations that could potentially migrate to the United Arab Emirates to bolster its growing ecosystem.

The Dubai Crypto Oasis is looking to increase the number of blockchain and cryptocurrency companies within its ecosystem to 1,500 by the end of 2022. In contrast, CVA's ecosystem took nearly six years to surpass the 1,000 mark.

From a regulatory standpoint, Dubai introduced new laws in March 2022 to enhance investor protection and create governance standards for cryptocurrency-related businesses to operate in its jurisdiction.

Around the same time, major cryptocurrency exchange operators Binance and FTX were granted licenses to operate and establish headquarters in Dubai.