Dubai’s economic department to roll out blockchain-based corporate KYC

Dubai’s Department of Economic Development wants to accelerate the total adoption of UAE KYC — the national Know Your Customer standard running on blockchain technology.

Dubai’s Department of Economic Development, or “Dubai Economy,” and the Dubai International Financial Centre are working to expand their Know Your Customer platform to financial institutions across the United Arab Emirates.

The DIFC made the planned project expansion known via an announcement published on its website on April 6.

According to the communique, both organizations have signed an agreement to put the necessary modalities in place to extend the KYC platform across the UAE.

The project was first announced back in February 2020, with 120 companies onboarded as of July 2020, according to a Cointelegraph report at the time.

The DIFC said that the blockchain-based KYC platform now holds close to half of all electronic KYC records in the UAE.

Commenting on the need to accelerate the adoption of the blockchain KYC system, the DIFC stated that the platform will enable more efficient sharing of verified KYC data among licensing authorities.

For Abdulla Hassan, CEO corporate sector, Dubai Economy, UAE Dubai is an integral part of efforts by the government to position the country as a viable global investment destination:

“Following its launch in 2020, the platform has become increasingly crucial not only in simplifying the procedures for opening bank accounts for investors but also in enabling banks to digitally receive verified KYC data. This initiative has a positive impact in attracting business and on the global ease of doing business ranking of Dubai and the UAE.”

The blockchain KYC consortium is one of many examples of the positive stance adopted by the Emirati government in dealing with crypto and blockchain technology.

Earlier in April, UAE Minister of Economy Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri identified crypto and asset tokenization as being integral to the country’s plans of doubling the size of its economy within the next decade.

Meanwhile, Dubai’s financial regulators are already working on crypto regulations, with members of the public recently given a 30-day window to comment on the proposed cryptocurrency laws.