Crypto regulation has come a long way. No longer is it a pass-off game between various government bodies: Digital assets now have dedicated overseers in a lot of regions.

One of the pioneers in the space is Dubai’s crypto regulator, the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). What sets VARA apart is its ability to effectively communicate guidelines and regulation to crypto firms, according to its senior official.

«Set and forget does not work for crypto, it’s all about feedback and open channels,» said Sean McHugh, senior director of market assurance at VARA. «Since we are exclusively focused on crypto, it allows us to get a little deeper into the tech and our rules are written for the modern-era.»

Dubai has become a crypto darling, emerging as one of the preferred choice for non-native crypto firms to set up shop and gain access to the region and beyond.

«Dubai is seen as a great jumping off point. We’ve seen a lot of [crypto] firms from Europe and beyond coming here and the reverse is also true, we see a lot of companies from other side of Asia come here. It’s a strategic move and the regulatory clarity helps them,» McHugh added.

Tokenization and beyond

Real world tokenization, or RWA, is gaining lot of traction in Dubai and for good reason. The region’s real estate agency, the Dubai Land Department (DLD), recently started a pilot to register and transfer property deeds on the blockchain. The tokenization initiative is being fostered by VARA and the Dubai Future Foundation (DFF).

The integration of real-estate into blockchain could bolster the city’s massive property market. DLD expects tokenized real-estate to jump to 60 billion dirhams ($16 billion) by 2033, accounting for 7% of Dubai’s total property transactions.

McHugh, speaking to CoinDesk at VARA’s office, believes that real estate is just the beginning.

«It’s very popular, not just in Dubai, but beyond. Dubai has the ability to get things done quicker,» he said, adding that they are also seeing a lot of precious metal tokenization projects.

VARA, with its nimble approach to regulation, is closely watching the space, he said.

«Whether it’s real estate, precious metal, or some other asset, a big part of my focus on this is customer protection. So, especially when you get to fractionalization it brings in a lot of new capital and retail investors, that need to be protected,» he said.

«We ask a lot of questions when it comes to RWA projects, what is the token? what exactly do I own? What does it trade and who is the liquidity provider? Cause for investors (institutional or otherwise) they need a liquidity event to get out. And these are the type of things we drill down with each project,» McHugh emphasized.

Interagency collaboration

The Donald Trump administration has openly advocated for crypto in the U.S. and in the opinion of industry leaders pushed other regions to follow suit. That’s not necessarily the case in the UAE, especially with VARA, which was created three years ago, long before the U.S. President became an open proponent of digital assets.

McHugh believes that interagency cooperation will be key for global crypto regulation, but does not see any particular agency leading the charge.

«I don’t think we’d see some super regulator, regional or otherwise. I think each agency is focused on its own customers,» he said, adding that memoranda of understanding (MoU) and open communication between governing bodies is the way to successfully watch over crypto.

Whether it’s exchanges, Web3 or RWA, the future of crypto in Dubai looks bright and McHugh, who was the former chief compliance officer at Citadel, said he feels that one of the main reason for that is the pro-business and start-up nature of the city.

TradFi giant Northern Trust (NTRS) will provide custody and cash management services for trade finance focused stablecoin issuer Haycen, the company said in a press release Thursday.

Northern Trust Asset Servicing will be responsible for providing Haycen with global custody services for its client fiat deposits, and Northern Trust Asset Management will provide cash sweep services, the company said.

Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies whose value is tied to another asset, such as the U.S. dollar or gold. They play a major role in cryptocurrency markets and are also used to transfer money internationally.

Haycen is a trade finance digital payments provider, with operations in the U.K. and Europe. The company offers wholesale stablecoin-based solutions for non-bank lenders in global trade.

Trade finance is a vital part of global commerce that is ripe for modernization. The industry is still reliant on manual workflows and can be expensive for banks and companies involved.

Access is also an issue. Smaller sized businesses are prevented from accessing trade finance due to the costs and complexity of the existing system. This is where stablecoins can help.

Haycen offers increased availability to U.S. dollars via stablecoins, combined with instant settlement, thereby reducing the traditional friction associated with cross-border transfers.

«Global trade is an incredibly important part of the economy and a fantastic
market for us as a stablecoin solution; the global flow of goods and services
relies on liquidity moving unencumbered and successive regulatory changes
have forced banks to scale back trade lending operations,» said Luke Sully, founder and CEO of Haycen, in emailed comments.

«That’s left a gap in the market for non-bank players looking for new ways to
move the $2 trillion of annual flows, 95% of which is denominated in USD,» Sully said, adding that «for these participants, using stablecoins combines yield enhancement with the certainty of instant free global settlement.»

Haycen has received funding from the U.K. government to develop institutional-grade stablecoins.

These cryptocurrencies have been grabbing headlines this week.

Fidelity Investments is in advanced stages of developing its own stablecoin, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a decentralized finance protocol backed by U.S. President Trump, also confirmed its own plans to launch a stablecoin.

Read more: Trump-Backed World Liberty Financial Confirms Dollar Stablecoin Plans With BitGo

A bizarre twist of AI tech and nostalgia is seeing memecoin enthusiasts issue, pump, and dump tokens themed after Studio Ghibli movies as a new AI art trend went viral in the past 24 hours.

That’s coming after OpenAI’s newly released 4o model — its most powerful image generation tool that spits out artwork based on specific user instructions and style guidelines, mimicking the characteristic vibe and style of artists and animators.

Thursday’s internet craze is specific to AI-generated images styled after the whimsical, hand-drawn charm of Studio Ghibli films, with fans flooding the web with selfies and landscapes with an eerie precision of the studio’s My Neighbour Totoro and Spirited Away films.

The hashtag #GhibliAI has since racked up millions of hits on X and Instagram. And crypto traders are now turning the trend into digital gold.

A flurry of Ghibli-themed cryptocurrencies are doing the rounds on Ethereum and Solana blockchains, with «ghiblification» (GHIBLI) emerging as the biggest one yet with a $21 million market cap as of Asian morning hours.

Inspired memecoins often go viral and tend to rack up bets because they tap into internet culture’s love for humor, absurdity, and community. Their low entry cost and wild price swings draw speculators chasing quick gains, amplifying buzz.

It has racked up nearly $70 million in trading volumes in just 24 hours of going live from a little over 250,000 individual trades. The token’s liquidity pool has just over $330,000 worth of Solana’s SOL (meaning the max a GHIBLI holder can exchange their holdings for, minus price declines).

Smaller tokens such as Ghilbi Doge, a Studio Ghibli-inspired doge, and popular movie characters NoFace and Yutaro have inspired their tokens. However, these have not gained much traction among traders as of Asian afternoon hours.