United

Dubai

BlackRock

Web3 venture capitalist and crypto market maker DWF Labs is moving its headquarters to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), founder and CEO Andrei Grachev announced on X. The purpose of the relocation is to increase real-world assets and other financial services in the Middle East, Grachev said. He provided no other details.
<h2 id="headquarters-in-abu-dhabi-and-dubai">Headquarters in Abu Dhabi and Dubai</h2>
It is unclear how the planned Abu Dhabi headquarters will fit into the current company structure. DWF Labs has offices in Singapore, Dubai, and Switzerland, which are described on its LinkedIn page as regional headquarters.
Abu Dhabi and Dubai are both members of the United Arab Emirates. UAE member states legislate non-federal issues independently, creating competition between states to host businesses. Grachev said in his X post:
<blockquote>
 “In order to build a strong presence in the Middle East and run more RWA and financial services there, @DWFLabs is moving the headquarter to Abu Dhabi.”
</blockquote>
DWF Labs is <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://dmcc.ae/ecosystems/crypto-and-blockchain" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">listed</a> as an ecosystem partner of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) economic zone’s Crypto Centre.&nbsp;Bybit, Solana, CV VC and Cointelegraph are among its neighbors there. <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-dubai-crypto-license-following-cz-s-departure" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Binance</a> and <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/chainalysis-dubai-regional-hq-uae-crypto" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Chainalysis</a> also have offices in Dubai. They are all regulated by the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA).
Ripple has a presence in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). That economic zone <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/dubai-difc-passes-comprehensive-digital-asset-law-new-security-law" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">created digital asset laws in March</a>.
Related: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/cointelegraph-establishes-middle-east-headquarters-at-the-dmcc-crypto-centre" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Cointelegraph establishes Middle East office at the DMCC Crypto Centre</a>
<h2 id="score-one-for-the-adgm">Score one for the ADGM</h2>
The virtual asset industry in Abu Dhabi is concentrated in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) economic zone. It has its own legal system based on English law and introduced its first cryptocurrency regulations in 2018. Its comprehensive DLT Foundations Regulations were <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/abu-dhabi-global-market-comprehensive-dlt-foundations-regulations" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">adopted in November 2023</a>.
<figure>
 <img alt="DWF Labs shifts base to Abu Dhabi to strengthen Middle East presence" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-12/01938891-0333-7f54-97b6-8abeb282d462" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Source: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/ag_dwf/status/1863523595961397580" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" text="null" title="https://x.com/ag_dwf/status/1863523595961397580">Andrei Grachev</a>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
DWF Labs would join firms such as&nbsp;<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/blockdaemon-uae-abu-dhabi-expansion" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Blockdaemon</a>,&nbsp;<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/abu-dhabi-gives-virtual-asset-firm-m2-permission-to-offer-crypto-services" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">M2</a>,&nbsp; <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/nomura-crypto-laser-digital-abu-dhabi-license" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Laser Digital</a>,&nbsp;<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/qcp-capital-abu-dhabi-regulatory-approval-crypto-trading" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">QCP Capital,</a> and <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/blackrock-abu-dhabi-ai-expansion" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/blackrock-abu-dhabi-ai-expansion">BlackRock</a> at the ADGM. Solana is a resident of the DMCC <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/abu-dhabi-financial-center-partners-solana-expand-dlt-projects" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/abu-dhabi-financial-center-partners-solana-expand-dlt-projects">and has a relationship with</a> the ADGM as well.
DWF Labs was founded in 2022 as an offshoot of a high-frequency trading firm. It has a portfolio worth between $72 billion and $77 billion, with over 700 projects in it.
<figure>
 <img alt="DWF Labs shifts base to Abu Dhabi to strengthen Middle East presence" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-12/01938892-17fb-7f8e-9502-10edaab868da" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 A few of the 700 projects in DWF Labs’ portfolio. Source: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.dwf-labs.com" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" text="null" title="https://www.dwf-labs.com">DWF Labs</a>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
Magazine: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/cz-hits-back-at-wsj-hong-kong-crypto-etfs-take-50b-equivalent-asia-express/" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Binance hits back at WSJ, Hong Kong crypto ETF’s take ‘$50B equivalent’: Asia Express</a>
&nbsp;

DWF Labs shifts base to Abu Dhabi to strengthen Middle East presence

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