Dubai’s Special Economic Zone DIFC Passes New Digital Assets Law

March 18, 2024 at 4:58 PM

The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has announced the passage of a new Digital Assets Law and Security Law, as well as amendments to existing law.

The new laws are designed to “keep pace with the rapid developments in international trade and financial markets […] and to provide legal certainty for investors in, and users of, Digital Assets,” according to a statement from the DIFC Authority.

According to Yahoo Finance, the DIFC is a special economic zone with over 5,000 residents and its own legal system based on English law.

The Digital Assets Law is the first comprehensive law to set out the legal characteristics of digital assets as a matter of property law. The Security Law replaces a 2005 law and its 2019 amendment and incorporates the Financial Collateral Regulations into its text.

The DIFC has also updated its cryptocurrency regulations and began subsidizing licenses for artificial intelligence and Web3 companies in 2023. The DIFC showed a net profit of $203 million in 2023, up 45% from the previous year. The new Digital Assets Law is a significant development in the regulation of digital assets. It also saw a 34% jump in new business registrations, specifically from the United States and Europe region. (NewsWire)