- SC Ventures recently led a roundtable discussion with leading figures in traditional and on-chain finance, with the Solana Foundation as moderator.
- The talks mainly focused on institutional digital asset infrastructure, stablecoins, DeFi lending, AI agents, and RWA tokenization.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has undoubtedly transformed into one of the hottest destinations for Web3 and digital assets. From there, Abu Dhabi and Dubai have emerged as hubs for the next stage of financial evolution, particularly real-world asset (RWA) tokenization.
Recognizing the strategic importance of the country in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, SC Ventures, the innovation, fintech investment, and venture-building arm of Standard Chartered Bank, held its first closed-door Digital Assets Roundtable in Abu Dhabi. SC Ventures CEO Alex Manson hosted the event while Solana (SOL) Foundation Advisor Alex Scott served as its moderator. The participants comprised of the big names in traditional and on-chain finance, including representatives from Circle, CV VC, FreedX, and Zodia.
The roundtable explored the best path toward the legacy financial system’s transition to an on-chain system. It also discussed the evolving role of stablecoins, AI, and banks in the digital economy.
Institutional Digital Asset Infrastructure
The group agreed that institutional digital asset infrastructure is now focused on clearer rules. Additionally, it offers more resilient operating models and stronger connectivity across the ecosystem.
The UAE is known for its robust, crypto-friendly regulatory framework, providing a balance between supporting innovations and safeguarding consumers. Dubai has the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) to oversee the licensing and conduct of digital asset service providers, and Abu Dhabi’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) operates its own virtual asset framework.
The Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) focuses on federal regulation and Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) registrations throughout the country. Meanwhile, the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) supervises services related to payments, digital banking, and fiat conversions.
Stablecoins
The participants acknowledged how stablecoins and on-chain settlement systems are reshaping the movement of money. However, they highlighted that banks remain a critical component of the rapidly changing system.
These institutions are vital in providing trust, recourse, credit, and access to regulated payment networks.
DeFi Lending
Moreover, the group emphasized that decentralized finance (DeFi) lending holds significant potential in serving the Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) sector. However, it must scale with the advances in RWA tokenization.
Doing so would broaden its range of acceptable collateral and support more practical avenues for lending.
AI Agents
Furthermore, the roundtable tackled the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) agents in driving on-chain activity. On the other hand, they mostly operate within the gray area of the system.
They claimed that AI agents can only scale toward mass adoption once questions about their regulation, supervision, identity, and liability are already resolved.
Closing Thoughts
SC Ventures and the rest of the group believe that the path forward is “unlikely to be fully on-chain or off-chain.” Nonetheless, it’s imperative for participants in the financial industry, including banks, fintechs, digital asset firms, and regulators, to establish deeper collaboration in building the infrastructure, trust, and governance required for broader institutional adoption.
