Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (Vara) has launched its headquarters on its Sandbox metaverse platform.
According to Vara, the move makes it the world’s first regulator to establish a presence in the metaverse.
The formation of the digital assets regulator was announced in March with the dual purpose of establishing a framework for cryptocurrencies that allowed businesses to scale while ensuring investor protection.
One of its first actions was to grant a virtual asset licence to crypto trading platform Binance.
It was also launched to promote Dubai as a crypto hub for the region. “This bold move reflects Dubai Government’s confidence in virtual assets being integral to the future digital economy, and its readiness to establish the Emirate as the world’s virtual assets capital,” stated Vara.
The Sandbox platform, which is linked to the Ethereum blockchain, went live in November 2021.
According to a Vara statement, the MetaHQ will serve as its “primary channel to engage virtual asset service providers across the globe to initiate applications, enable younger licensees enter the metaverse, openly share knowledge and experiences with consumers and peer regulators to raise awareness, enable safe adoption, and drive global interoperability”.
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