Sui has signed a partnership with Dubai's regulatory body, the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA).
As part of the partnership, Sui's web3 accelerator, SuiHub, will collaborate with VARA to accelerate the growth of virtual assets in the region.
Interestingly, this partnership between VARA and another leading blockchain comes just one day after it announced the establishment of a Solana Economic Zone in partnership with Solana.
The collaboration between Sui and VARA is based on the common goal of making Dubai the center of cryptocurrencies. It also includes support for cryptocurrency startups through educational and regulatory support programs.
According to the announcement, both partners are expected to work to simplify the regulatory compliance processes for projects wishing to operate in the region.
It is noteworthy that VARA in Dubai requires web3 projects to complete a four-stage licensing process for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP). This includes the Provisional Permit, the Preparatory License, the Minimum Viable Product License (MVP), and the Full Market Product License (FMP).
VASP must meet rigorous compliance standards. These include anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing measures, "Know Your Customer" certification, and risk management procedures. There are other technological standards and information requirements, such as financial statements and compliance audits.
In this way, the SUI-VARA alliance will significantly help emerging crypto projects navigate the licensing maze.