In an effort to lure some of the largest digital asset providers, the United Arab Emirates is preparing to issue national crypto licensing by the end of Q1, a government official told Bloomberg Thursday. Note the UAE is the third-largest crypto market in the Middle East, with a transaction volume of ~$26B, Bloomberg reported, citing data compiled by Chainalysis from July 2020 to June 2021. Moreover, the Securities and Commodities Authority is in the final stage of changing legislation to allow virtual asset service providers to set up, the official told Bloomberg. Recall in mid-December when the world's largest crypto exchange, Binance, was in talks with the UAE about a potential headquarters in the nation, people with knowledge on the matter told Bloomberg. In addition, the UAE government wants to build a crypto mining ecosystem that would be regulated, the official explained to Bloomberg. Looking at crypto prices, bitcoin (BTC-USD
