Eric Trump returns to UAE to pitch crypto at Dubai conference
Eric Trump, who drew enthusiastic hoots and hollers in Abu Dhabi last December when he told the Bitcoin MENA conference that his dad would unleash the power of cryptocurrencies, returns to the UAE this week to kick off Dubai’s TOKEN2049 summit.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s 41-year-old second son promises to deliver another rousing address at the gathering, which starts on Wednesday, as crypto fever builds with the imminent issue of the UAE’s own dirham-denominated stablecoin.
ADQ, the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, together with First Abu Dhabi Bank and International Holding Co., announced on Monday that the digital currency will be fully regulated by the Central Bank of the UAE to build investor confidence and lessen the uncertainty inherent to bitcoins and other blockchain-based money. No date was given for the UAE coin’s debut.
“The launch of the stablecoin marks a pivotal step in our commitment to strengthening the UAE’s digital infrastructure ecosystem,” said Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi, Managing Director and Group CEO of ADQ.
“As we move forward towards an increasingly digital and connected economy, the stablecoin will provide a solution that is secure, efficient and scalable, while creating new opportunities for growth and value creation,” he said.
Alongside Trump, the two-day TOKEN2049 event will draw top names in the crypto industry, including Binance founder Changpeng Zhao; OKX founder and CEO Star Xu; Robert Mitchnick, BlackRock’s Head of Digital Assets; and Mathew McDermott, Head of Digital Assets for Goldman Sachs.
Exploding Bitcoin puts Gulf on course to crypto epicenter
Amid the explosive performance of cryptocurrencies this year – with Bitcoin breaking the $100,000 ceiling last week – investors are buckling up for what looks to be a wild ride in 2025.
Eric Trump was greeted with hoots and hollers when he took the stage at December’s Bitcoin MENA conference in Abu Dhabi and promised that his dad will be “most pro-crypto president in the history of America.”
The event coincided with an announcement from the UAE’s Central Bank that it will issue the AE Coin, a so-called stablecoin that will be subject to government regulation to assure its trustworthiness as a digital currency.
After opening the year at $44,204, Bitcoin has soared more than 130%, hitting an all-time high on Tuesday of $107,778 – before slipping yesterday to $94,569 and illustrating crypto’s unpredictability.
In an interview with The Circuit, Tim Popplewell, owner and CEO of Dubai-based Scintilla Network, talks about his investment firm’s crypto strategy, the critical role of regulation in building trust and how the Gulf is poised to lead the next chapter in digital innovation.
Where do you think the UAE is headed in addressing Crypto?
One of the key aspects of cryptocurrencies and digital assets is regulation, and that’s crucial. Generally speaking, there have been some not-so-great stories in recent years, with people paying heavy prices, including prison time.
The UAE, and the Middle East more broadly, has been fantastic in taking the lead. They’ve gone from having little to no framework to establishing authorities like VARA – the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority – here in Dubai, which is truly leading the world. And I don’t think it’s just me saying that from Dubai. I travel enough to know that this is a widely held opinion in the industry regarding regulation in this space.
With solid regulation comes bigger players. Once the major players realize it’s safe to operate here, they start moving in. You saw it at the [Bitcoin MENA event]. The caliber of international players coming to this region is precisely the kind you want to attract. Regardless of your political views, having Eric Trump speak about crypto is a significant endorsement. Bitcoin MENA is the region’s first event of this kind, and for its debut, it attracted someone of that stature. That speaks volumes about the importance of this space in the region.
As for trends, it’s completely inevitable that digital assets and currencies are the future. Just this [month], we’ve seen leaders from Russia, China, the US, Europe, Britain, and others all make statements in favor of cryptocurrencies, digital assets, central bank digital currencies, or stablecoins. The direction is clear – this is unstoppable.
You also have influential figures like Michael Saylor, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, and many others backing this movement. The trajectory is inevitable; it’s just a matter of what form it will take.
How is digital currency used here in the MENA region?
The MENA region started off behind but is now moving ahead very quickly. One example is the use of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). That is an area where the Middle East region has really taken a bit of a lead. A CBDC is a digital currency issued by central banks. In this region, for large oil transactions, CBDCs help cut out middlemen, reduce fees, and speed up transaction times. Another key advantage is that once a transaction happens, it cannot be reversed or disappear — it’s immutable. It is impossible for it to disappear. It is impossible for funds to go missing.
CBDCs also help legitimize trade in the region. A few years ago, there was still skepticism about whether the Middle East could play a significant role in global finance. Now, digital currencies are helping change that perception. For example, at Abu Dhabi Finance Week, the slogan was “The Capital of Capital,” and no one questions that anymore. I think digital currencies have played a role in that.
What is happening in the UAE regarding digital currency, especially with the recent stablecoin announcement?
At one end of the spectrum, you have central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). These are essentially the digital version of what central banks currently do when they print money, backed fully by the government. At the other end, you have cryptocurrencies, which aren’t backed by anything tangible—only by market sentiment. In the middle, you have stablecoins. The idea behind a stablecoin is that it’s backed by actual assets. For example, the recently announced AE Coin, a new stablecoin for the UAE, is backed by dirhams and other assets. If you buy one dirham worth of stablecoin, it’s fully supported by an equivalent dirham in reserve, ensuring its stability and security.
Can we predict what’s going to happen in the next 5 to 10 years?
In terms of major cryptocurrencies, I think their growth is somewhat inevitable. Far be it from me to make a price prediction, but if you were to ask whether Bitcoin, for example, will be higher in five years than it is today, I’d say it’s almost inevitable. I really can’t see any reasons for that not happening.
The real fascination lies in the interplay between CBDCs, stablecoins, and cryptocurrencies over the next five years. How these entities interact will be key. If you look at CBDCs, on one hand, they offer benefits like cutting costs and reducing transaction times. On the other hand, they bring concerns about government surveillance and tracking how people spend their money. It’s a two-sided story, and I don’t know how it will play out, but it will definitely be fascinating to watch.
Stablecoins, again, seem inevitable. They’re clearly the way of the future, and I don’t think there’s much doubt about that. Cryptocurrencies, however, are more complex. Right now, there are millions of them, and I think we’ll see a split. The larger cryptocurrencies that can be traded in regulated spaces will grow stronger because people trust them. They’re not going to experience “pump and dump” schemes or other risks that jeopardize their money. Then there’s the speculative, “Wild West” side—meme coins and unregulated cryptocurrencies. They’ll continue to exist outside regulation, but good luck to anyone investing in those. They won’t disappear entirely, but the space will split: regulated cryptocurrencies will attract most players, while unregulated ones will remain high-risk.
How do you advise your clients to ensure their investments are secure in crypto?
We are in an interesting position because we are regulated by VARA and we were incubated within a global law firm. So, we saw this coming years ago – the Wild West phase would eventually end, and regulation would become the only way for people like yourself to feel comfortable putting your hard-earned money into this space, whether as an investment or as a way of paying bills.
This ties back to what I mentioned earlier about the importance of regulated players. For example, we’re regulated for exchange services. This means that when you put your money with a regulated provider like us, you can trust that it’s safe. We have to abide by VARA’s regulations, which allow us to do certain things but also prevent us from engaging in others. That’s the direction this space is heading.
On the other hand, if you put your money into a meme coin just because some influencer or KOL (Key Opinion Leader) thinks it’s funny or trendy, well, good luck. Those coins aren’t regulated, and unfortunately, when things go south – and it really is “when,” not “if” – it’s a case of “buyer beware.”
I think we’re going to see a clear shift toward quality, and that quality will revolve around regulated providers.
Eric Trump to deliver keynote at Abu Dhabi crypto conference
This week’s Bitcoin MENA conference in Abu Dhabi will showcase some of the key cryptocurrency players in the incoming Trump administration, including the President-elect’s son Eric, who will deliver the keynote to a crowd of 6,000 at the ADNEC center.
Also speaking at the Gulf’s biggest crypto gathering is billionaire Steve Witkoff, who has been appointed the new White House envoy for the Middle East, Reuters reports. Witkoff is co-founder of World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency platform launched in September that Donald Trump and his family helped form.
Both Trump and Witkoff will be holding “whales-only” chats in the conference’s VIP lounge, where admission requires a $9,999 pass for whales, the crypto nickname for large players who have potential to move markets, the news agency said.
Other speakers with close ties to World Liberty Financial include Justin Sun, the 32-year-old Chinese founder of blockchain platform Tron, Reuters reports.
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who served a four-month U.S. prison sentence this year for crypto-connected money-laundering law violations, will also hold a whale session at the conference.
Oman bets big on cryptocurrency mining despite Bitcoin’s volatility
For the last two years, the market value of Bitcoin has been on a rollercoaster ride, the volatility leading institutional investors and regulators to question the cryptocurrency’s long-term viability.
But look to the Gulf countries and a different story is taking shape: the United Arab Emirates and Oman are looking seriously at regulating digital assets while crypto firms are flocking to Dubai to set up shop. Oman, for its part, is betting big on cryptocurrency mining. Observers say a cooler climate in Salalah, in the south, compared to elsewhere in the desert nation, as well as business-friendly regulation and cheap energy could help it succeed.
In August, the oil-rich country announced close to $800 million in investments in crypto-mining operations, including $300 million with Abu Dhabi-based Phoenix Group to develop a 150-megawatt crypto-mining farm with Green Data City, Oman’s first licensed crypto-mining entity, slated to go online next year. Weeks earlier, Muscat approved a $370 million farm operated by Exahertz International.
Oman is looking to diversify beyond fossil fuel revenues under its “Vision 2040” economic agenda, which focuses on the buildout of modern energy and telecommunication infrastructure that aims to attract foreign investment and create knowledge-worker jobs.
“Crypto might be uniquely suited to Oman’s policy style to diversify its trading partners and sources of non-hydrocarbon income,” Sam Blatteis, CEO and co-founder of the MENA Catalysts, a government relations firm for tech companies, told The Circuit.
Over the last decade, crypto mining has gone from a basement-type operation distributed over individual computers to large centralized mining pools that require large capital investment and sophisticated machines to solve ever-harder-to-attain matches to cryptographic solutions.
This is energy-intensive work.
Oman offers some of the cheapest electricity in the world, costing only around 5 cents per kilowatt hour, compared to 23 cents in the U.S. This significantly lowers the operational costs for crypto mining. A medium-sized crypto-mining operation in Oman could save millions of dollars in electricity costs compared to operating in the U.S., which is home to over a third of all crypto mining globally.
The move will not be without controversy as crypto mining is often derided for not being environmentally friendly. Bitcoin mining generates 21 to 53 million tons of carbon per year, according to an analysis by Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Sheikh Mansour Bin Taleb Bin Ali Al Hinai, chairman of Oman’s Authority for Public Services Regulations, commented in a press statement about his government’s support of Bitcoin mining facilities: “This initiative aligns with our goal to diversify our economy, integrating modern technologies while upholding our commitment to ethical and sustainable practices.”
The country is aiming for at least a third of energy production to be from renewable sources by 2030.
But energy isn’t the only focus. Stability matters, too, according to those who have chosen to do business in Oman.
“In previous years, the mining industry was only focused on finding the lowest prices of electricity, and this led to disasters in unstable countries like China, Kazakhstan, Russia and Paraguay,” Olivier Ohnheiser, CEO of Green Data City in Muscat, told The Circuit.
“Even the U.S. is threatening the mining industry with taxes and higher electricity prices in the next few years. So, now, with the consolidation of the industry under publicly listed mega-miners, the priority is stability. Most miners prefer to have 50% of their operations as a maximum in the U.S., and 50% diversified elsewhere. Oman is one of the best places, if not the best place, for that.
“Oman offers long-term stability and fixed prices of electricity in the long run,” Ohnheiser continued. “The country is stable and is known to respect its commitments.”
Jad Kharma, CEO of Exahertz, the other crypto mining operator with an Omani license, agrees.
“This is Switzerland of the Middle East,” he said of government stability. “I felt safer as a foreign investor to put my hands in the hands of the people that are shaping the future for the country” than in other countries in the region.
Plus, Kharma likes the quality of life in Salalah, the microclimate in southern Oman where the crypto mining takes place. It’s often many degrees cooler than elsewhere in the Arabian Gulf: an actual oasis.
The oasis has Jaran Mellerud’s attention. An associate at Luxor, a Seattle -based company that develops crypto-mining technologies, he traveled to the UAE and Oman over the summer to check out the mining operations underway and evaluate if either country has the potential to take up significant market share in the near future.
“Bitcoin mining is a very simple way of monetizing excess electricity,” he told The Circuit. “If there is a place that has a lot of excess electricity, but has no other way of quickly putting it to use, Bitcoin mining is a very efficient way of attracting investment into that area, for example in southern Oman, with all this excess electricity.”
Oman has the advantage in the region for other reasons other than an excess of cheap energy. Solid government support and a relatively cooler climate are other main drivers.
“The only way to mine Bitcoin in a scalable and legally sustainable way in Oman is by closely cooperating with the government. Miners need licenses and are also expected to provide significant benefits to the community. In return, they get tax benefits and access to loads of competitively priced electricity.”
Mellerud predicts that Oman will become an increasingly important destination for Bitcoin over the next couple of years and could, together with the UAE, take the Middle East’s total share of the Bitcoin mining network to above 15%.
