I show you the most beautiful view in Dubai.
A new global tech hub is emerging in Dubai, drawing the ultra-rich and entrepreneurs.
Looking at what Dubai was 20 years ago, you know,
it's almost like you're seeing kind of the pattern repeat itself, but for the next generation.
Dubai’s handling of the pandemic, low taxes
and ease of doing business laid the groundwork for a post-pandemic boom,
creating an attractive environment for tech start-ups with mobile international workforces.
Dubai is and the UAE overall right is like a world-class example of dealing with a pandemic.
The UAE’s growing reputation as a tech hub has attracted a huge influx of investment.
In 2020, more than 650 million dollars of investments were
poured into start-ups in the Middle East and North Africa.
That amount quadrupled to $2.9 billion the following year
with roughly half that investment flowing into the UAE.
One company that’s contributed to that investment is Dubai-based BitOasis, co-founded by Ola Doudin.
What is BitOasis?
We're the leading crypto asset platform in the Middle East.
We make it easy for users to buy, sell and trade crypto assets.
BitOasis is one of the many companies born out of the explosion of crypto onto the financial scene.
We're definitely seeing Dubai leading that race, competing with the likes of other financial hubs,
including in Asia, Europe, and the U.S., and really positioning itself as a global crypto hub.
And also being part of an open jurisdiction that is forward-looking progressive when it comes to
tech and tech adoption, and also being in a financial centre.
There is a common misconception that oil sits at the center of Dubai’s economy.
But with only a small fraction of the proven oil reserves of its wealthy neighbor Abu Dhabi,
the emirate has long been forced to diversify.
The former fishing town made a name for itself in trade,
running one of the world’s biggest ports and a bustling international air cargo hub.
Since the turn of the century, it’s pushed to become a leader in luxury travel,
real estate and finance.
And while Dubai can now brag about its status as a global financial hub and tourist hotspot,
it hasn't all been smooth sailing.
The 2008-2009 financial crash and global downturn, for instance,
saw the city’s real estate bubble burst, with prices falling by as much as 50%.
Some worry Dubai’s latest tech play carries a similar risk,
especially because of crypto's well-known volatility.
Just take bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency.
It saw its price hit a record high and drop like a stone in the span of just a few months.
But supporters of cryptocurrencies tell me these big drops in value will
weed out projects that relied on hype and an inflated market to carry them.
They say this will allow top companies to mature and prove their products.
There's obviously a lot of cities and countries which are
looking at the crypto space with a little bit of apprehension.
How do we approach this new industry that we don't know a great deal about?
Dubai in the UAE have taken the moderate approach where it's, let's observe, let's learn,
and then put out regulation that can foster this industry, while also mitigating further risks.
So that’s definitely progressive and forward looking and very different to
what other jurisdictions have looked at as well.
In 2021, Dubai partnered with Swiss investment company Crypto Valley
Venture Capital to open the DMCC Crypto Centre.
The aim? Create a dedicated ecosystem for blockchain and crypto businesses
to collaborate and expand their network.
The Crypto Centre is located inside the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre free zone,
one of many free zones set up in the emirate.
Free zones are geographic areas, generally with an industry focus,
built to attract foreign businesses.
They usually permit 100% foreign ownership of companies, import and
export tax exemptions and one-stop shop visa services, amongst other benefits.
The way it works is that this is a company, and this is another company.
One of the businesses taking advantage of the new Crypto Centre is Fluid Finance.
Co-founded by Ahmed Ismail, it aims to make the trading of crypto easier and pricing more accurate
by pooling prices from different exchanges in one place for more efficient and faster transactions.
The UAE is one of the easiest places in the world to do business,
tax-free environment over I think 40 Free Zones here.
So, they're very much trying to establish a global hub of infrastructure.
They did that with Dubai, being the
financial hub of the Middle East, and now they're doing the same with crypto.
It's very, very exciting.
Are we seriously considering Dubai now as a global tech hub, not just a tech hub within the
Arab world, but a global tech hub that could potentially one day rival the likes of
London and Paris?
100%. I mean, you have all the ingredients here.
All the innovation or the leadership, it's attracting huge amounts of talent
from Silicon Valley, from the UK, from Singapore you've got Binance,
the largest exchange in the world, establishing their hub in the Middle East, right in Dubai.
While regulators in some countries have given Binance a frosty reception,
the UAE opened its doors to the world's largest crypto exchange.
It now has offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, while the Dubai World Trade center
played host to the company’s three-day blockchain and crypto networking event.
There's a gathering of all the right players in in what is a multi-sided ecosystem.
What really stands out here in Dubai and I would argue, actually across the UAE region,
is a realization, as this community came in, about new ways of raising capital,
new ways of investing capital, new ways of generating returns
That really does stand out, I think versus most global jurisdictions.
The UAE is now home to three unicorns, or tech start-ups worth at least a billion dollars,
and they are all based in Dubai. The country aims to have at least 20 unicorns by 2031.
In a bid to encourage entrepreneurs and tech investors to live in the country,
the UAE is also offering 100,000 “golden visas” that allow entry for 10 years.
A national small-business program has also been set up to help start-ups find funding,
partner with established companies and market their products overseas.
These business-friendly policies have seen many young tech entrepreneurs arrive on Dubai’s shores
hoping to position themselves at the forefront of the cryptocurrency and digital asset industry.
For some investors in the cryptocurrency space,
their lives have transformed in a very short space of time.
This apartment here is home to one of the industry’s most famous crypto influencers.
Hi, Chris.
Hey, Tom.
How are you?
Very good, man. Good to see you.
His real name is Christopher Jaszczynski, but most people know him as MM.
In 2021, he was crowned the crypto influencer of the year at an AI and blockchain conference.
Four years earlier, he was a taxi driver in his hometown in Germany.
I’m pretty proud of that because I learned to talk with people to listen to people
and was a very important part of my life.
I did that for four years, until I found Bitcoin,
cryptocurrency, started investing, trading, pushing content on YouTube.
And I actually stopped with university, dropped out of my masters in the end.
Five years ago, you're driving a taxi. We're now in this apartment.
How has that process been?
It all starts with mindset, right?
I saw myself already being successful, being a big YouTuber was famous.
It was long before I got famous, long before I got successful, and made a lot of money
and eventually I pulled this future reality into present.
So all your investment is in crypto?
It's not recommended for most of the people watching,
of course, it's a high-risk asset, you have a good probability of default, it's possible
and you don't want to put all your eggs in one basket if you can't afford the full loss, right?
For the crypto space is Dubai the kind of the best place to be?
There were always many places. We had Malta, we had Singapore, but
at this point of time, I think it's pretty obvious that Dubai is number one.
This is something I'm very proud of. I have all over this apartment, NFTs.
This is crypto punks. It's like one of the first NFTs from 2017. Like the Bitcoin of NFTs.
Some of my watches. Which like, yeah, it's just a good collection.
I mean, I'm in crypto, but it's nice to have something you can touch.
What do your family think?
They're happy, right? I mean, they provided for me
my whole life now I can provide for my family and it's a beautiful feeling.
I even got my 95-year-old grandma here.
I got her private jet so she can sleep.
Maybe I showed you the most beautiful view in Dubai. Yes.
Once an hour, you can see the biggest fountain show
in the world. It's like almost the highest floor.
It's the bridge of the two buildings. What have you. Yeah. Amazing. I love it.
While cryptocurrency has made some people a fortune,
the crypto crash in 2022 left many investors suffering huge losses, with some sinking
their entire life’s savings into the space. The industry also saw a number of job cuts.
Away from crypto, the Middle East has also drawn foreign tech start-ups that not only want to take
advantage of an attractive business environment, but to also make a difference on the ground.
If you spend any time walking around Dubai, you quickly realize that it’s
very clean. But drive outside the city and littering is a bit of an issue.
However, one company is developing technology that they hope will help solve the problem.
We reward people for picking up litter. And we do so through our mobile app,
where essentially, if you find a piece of litter on the floor, you can pick it up,
scan the barcode, and get rewarded for that desired acting behaviour.
James Angle is head of product for Unbox, a company that aims to use technology
to incentivize and reward citizens for positive behavior.
He's walking me through their Unbox Litter app.
It's a popular camping spot, and these deserts are open to everyone.
So, you know, unfortunately, everyone doesn't treat it the way they should.
We can grab it, we can scan it, it'll recognise the barcode.
So, in this case, it recognises the barcode, but it doesn't know what type of litter it is.
So, we can tell it, "It's a plastic water bottle." Once we submit that,
we receive, in this case, five circular You coins.
We are then free to choose to spend on the e-store how we want,
whether that be on a coffee, getting your car cleaned.
And essentially, we're really trying to kind of make it engaging, making it fun.
I imagine you're also trying to educate as well.
Absolutely. So that's the whole point is we want to
try and engage and educate through doing.
And specifically in this region,
it's definitely becoming more and more a core issue that people want to address.
And so we see this as a perfect opportunity to
release something like Unbox Litter here in the desert.
The region’s initiatives have already caught the attention of young,
tech-savvy entrepreneurs like James.
But it’s not stopping there,
particularly as its neighbor Saudi Arabia rolls out social and economic reforms of its own.
Its Vision 2030 agenda, the brainchild of the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman,
is the nation’s attempt to diversify the economy
away from oil and attract international businesses and investors to its shores.
Still, Dubai and the UAE are pushing ahead with
moves to cement its position as a leading tech hub in the Middle East.
Besides expanding the long-term visa eligibility for highly skilled workers,
foreigners are now allowed full ownership of commercial businesses,
scrapping the need for UAE nationals to hold a controlling stake.
Societal changes such as decriminalizing alcohol and allowing the cohabitation of
unmarried couples are also designed to align the UAE more closely with international norms.
Plans are also afoot to offer expatriates the chance to retire in the emirates
if they are over the age of 55 and meet various financial criteria.
But will it be enough? In the next From Crisis to Recovery episode,
we explore the UAE’s new workweek, a bold move from the government aiming to boost
work-life balance and the country’s links with international business.