Today's Edition
KHALED AL KHAWALDEH (DUBAI)
The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts have launched a new will registry for digital assets, a move the authority says will help ensure tokens, cryptocurrencies and other digital assets can be passed seamlessly down through generations.
“When we initially looked into launching this project, we discovered that a lot of people have been investing in these types of products and these types of assets, but they were not necessarily passing them on or letting their loved ones about their locations,” Ayesha bin Kalban, the Registrar of the DIFC Courts, told Aletihad on the sidelines of the GITEX summit on Wednesday.
“So we found that a lot of these assets were not being transferred, and therefore, when the person passed away, they were just abandoned. And that's why we came up with this product, to allow them to nominate the beneficiaries of their choosing. We ensure that at the time of their passing these assets are distributed immediately to the beneficiaries of choice,” she added.
Released on Tuesday, the new will registry promises to further cement the DIFC and Dubai as a centre for digital assets and innovation in Fintech. She said the new product would complement existing services offered to non-Muslims across the emirate for other asset types and furthered the DIFC’s ambitions to be a centre for digital assets.
Bin Kalban noted that the newly issued DIFC digital assets law regulates these types of assets, adding that the new law aligns with the centre’s commitment to the Dubai economic agenda. “That’s why we've been creating these products that enable people's certainty in the digital economy in the emirates of Dubai,” she said.
“This service allows people to invest in Bitcoin with the certainty that they can inevitably or initially or eventually pass on these assets to their beneficiaries of choosing.”
Bin Kalban said there has already been strong interest in the product in the 24 hours since its launch, expressing hope that many industry participants and investors will come onboard in the coming months.
