Regulation of virtual currencies in the United Arab Emirates: accounting for the emerging public/private distinction

Abstract

This article maps the changing global conversation on virtual currencies (VCs) internationally And brings that to bear on the development of a suitable regulatory framework for VCs in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Through a review of recent international developments, the article notes a reversal in regulatory attitude towards VCs. This review suggests two emerging horizons of regulatory intervention. The first concerns the public issue of VCs to develop financial traceability and economic transparency – an arrangement that would be particularly relevant for developing countries with large informal economies. In particular, public VC issue raises follow-up questions of technological adequacy and the legal status of a means of payment guaranteed by the State. The second concerns privately issued VCs traded on independent platforms and focuses on the trade off between economic development, through a private market for VCs, and the risks connected to money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Here, a two-pronged system of ex ante licensing to private venture capitalists, coupled with ex post-sanctions, appears to be an emerging international standard for supporting economic development in countries marked by the preponderant weight of an underground economy.

KEYWORDS: Virtual currencies, United Arab Emirates, Gulf Cooperation Council, money laundering, blockchain, terrorism financing