Doha, Qatar, Monday, 2 September 2024
On 1 September, the QFC Authority and the QFC Regulatory Authority (“QFCRA”) jointly announced the enactment of the QFC Digital Assets Regulations 2024, which creates a significant opportunity for the financial sector in the QFC and Qatar to explore opportunities in the tokenization of a broad range of assets, including shares, bonds, sukuk, commodities and real estate. The regulations also make provision for the validation, registration and custody of tokens to ensure confidence in the digital assets framework.
Previously, on 26 December 2019, the QFCRA issued an alert on Virtual Asset Service Providers that limited the services available to be provided in respect of certain Virtual Assets that act as a substitute for currency. The QFCRA has confirmed that the Virtual Assets subject to that alert are “Excluded Tokens” under the QFC Digital Assets Regulations 2024 and, as such, the restrictions addressed in that 2019 alert remain in place with respect to any such Excluded Tokens. As defined in the QFC Digital Assets Regulations 2024, Excluded Tokens include virtual assets that do not represent a right in any property (other than the token itself) or that represents a substitute for currency or another means of payment (e.g. cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and CBDCs).
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