Dubai Grants Ex-Singapore Parliamentarian Calvin Cheng’s Web3 Company a Virtual Asset License

• Ex-Singapore Parliamentarian Calvin Cheng forms the first regulated non-fungible token (NFT) and fan token investment holding company in Dubai.
• The Dubai Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) has granted the company a provisional license to operate under full regulatory supervision alongside Binance, FTX, Crypto.com and Bybit.
• The holding company, through its portfolio companies including Celeb X, will offer exclusive membership access to lifestyle and entertainment lounges, and celebrities, via NFT and fan token system.
• Dubai’s seamless integration of cryptocurrency and virtual assets have become increasingly attractive to investors, specifically due to focus on prudent regulatory guard-rails.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates–(Newsfile Corp. – May 24, 2022) – Singaporean investor and entrepreneur Calvin Cheng has established a non-fungible token (NFT) and fan token investment holding company in Dubai. Cheng, formerly an appointed Member of Parliament in Singapore, will invest in projects to integrate crypto into fashion, media and entertainment via Calvin Cheng Web3 Holdings FZE.

The Dubai Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) has granted the company a provisional Virtual Asset License. VARA is the world’s first specialised regulator for virtual assets, such as cryptocurrency. As Dubai moves towards safer economic freedom backed by greater technological innovation and digital transformation, VARA will play a central role in creating new investment opportunities in Dubai’s fast-growing virtual asset industry.[1]

The announcement follows similar preliminary permits that enables readiness to operate under full regulatory supervision, that VARA is granting to world-leading crypto exchanges Binance, FTX, Crypto.com and Bybit among other VASPs in the chain.

VARA: A ticket into the metaverse

Calvin Cheng Web3 Holdings FZE voluntarily elected to obtain a VARA license to gain access to a regulated ecosystem, despite their product offering not being subject to supervision in other global jurisdictions. The license provides greater customer assurance and increases consumer risk protection.

As the only global economy to have an independently regulated virtual assets environment under VARA, Dubai’s virtual asset’s ecosystem is governed by comprehensive legislation and internationally applicable policy frameworks. Designed as the world’s first participatory-governance model, where industry innovators and market shapers share responsibility with policy makers to create a more democratic and borderless economy, VARA is structured to increase collaboration and innovation, without compromising public protection.

Under the VARA regime, all business services will be subject to thorough regulatory oversight, and end-to-end mandatory Financial Action Task Force (FATF) compliance controls.

VARA noted “Calvin Cheng Web3 Holdings FZE will be the first international business to actively seek regulation, despite being able to operate lawfully in many other qualifying…