Today's Edition
KHALED AL KHAWALDEH (ABU DHABI)
Eric Trump, the son of US president-elect Donald Trump, hailed the UAE in an emphatic speech in which he derided the global financial system and threw his support, and that of his father by proxy, behind crypto currencies.
Speaking at the MENA Bitcoin conference in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, Eric, who currently sits as the VP of the Trump Organization, said his father would be the next "president of crypto" and vowed to de-regulate the industry.The former president has been a vocal backer of the crypto market and his victory in the US elections last month saw Bitcoin, the largest crypto currency, shatter the $100,000 mark.
Calling it the "future of finance", Eric said the US would lead the digital revolution and predicted that Bitcoin would reach the $1 million mark.
"He's going to be the crypto president. He's going to make America the crypto capital of the world," he said of his father.
Hailing the UAE as a willing business partner, he said: "To all our friends in the UAE, this country is amazing. How many people in here from the UAE? Our family loves you.
"The UAE is the developer's greatest dream because they never say no to anything. In fact, they always tell you to kind of push the limits. And there's no place that's growing faster. There's no place that's been more fun to work in in the UAE."
Eric hailed the UAE's progressiveness not only in terms of real estate development, but for its favourable legislation relating to crypto currencies and digital assets, promising to emulate that framework in the United States.
Trump used his speech to laud crypto currency as a historic equaliser of financial fortunes, saying that it gave people without the wealth his own family possessed the opportunity to get ahead.
He claimed the global financial system had been rigged against ordinary people, citing the long waiting times for home mortgages in the US as an example.
In recent years, the UAE has emerged as a global leader in progressive crypto and digital asset legislation. Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) have established comprehensive frameworks for regulating digital assets, focusing on investor protection, anti-money laundering measures and compliance.
Initiatives such as Dubai's Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority and the introduction of tailored licensing regimes for virtual asset service providers have positioned the UAE as a hub for blockchain and fintech enterprises.
For Eric, the liquidity and decentralised nature of digital assets made them important elements of the future economy.
He said the same forces that had attempted to block his father's ascendency to the presidency were also opposing the rise of crypto; and that his father would fight back on both fronts.
"There's no need for tens of thousands of bankers and massive skyscrapers all over the world pushing credit applications and antiquated paperwork, you know, charging exorbitant fees. There is nothing. There is nothing that's done in those buildings that can't be done better on blockchain," he said.
"I truly believe in the coming decades that this is going to become the cornerstone of the modern global financial system."
Eric also alluded to a flurry of new projects that his family company would be involved in the near future, in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the wider GCC region, however he did not elaborate on these.
