The Dubai Police has teamed up with cryptocurrency firm BitOasis to combat the increasing cases of fraud involving cryptocurrencies.
The objective of the collaboration is to help educate investors and traders about crypto fraud, Arab News reports.
BitOasis CEO Ola Doudin said that the firm’s partnership with the police may help protect investors and traders given the number of scams happening on peer-to-peer platforms.
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“We have been working with key policymakers to help them build regulation that will make crypto safe for investors,” Doudin said.
Tarek Mohammed, the head of the Dubai Police virtual asset crime section, said that the police department is now extensively training its force to understand crypto and blockchain.
“(The UAE) is taking a hands-on approach to ensuring the financial security of the country, investors, and all stakeholders operating within the crypto space,” Mohammed said.
UAE embraces blockchain and crypto
The partnership is announced as UAE embraces blockchain technology and crypto assets. The UAE Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) and the Dubai World Trade Centre Authority (DWTCA) have earlier come up with an agreement to support crypto trading.
The agreement, in particular, created a framework that allows the DWTCA to issue approvals and licenses to financial activities that involve digital assets like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).
“As Dubai continues its drive towards an innovation and digital-led economy, DWTCA is looking to support businesses underpinned by blockchain and cryptographic technologies,” DWTCA director general Helal Saeed Almarri said in a statement. “With the rise of new technologies such as non-fungible tokens set to play an important role in the future of commerce, and building on the Future Blockchain Summit, our globally recognised event in this sector, DWTCA is also pursuing ways to offer a sustainable home for this ecosystem, in order to stay future-ready.”
Rising cases of crypto scams
Scams involving cryptocurrencies have increased as digital assets go mainstream. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said that between October 2020 and March 2021, it received more than 6,800 complaints related to cryptocurrency investment scams.
The agency said that losses to crypto investment scams over this six-month period is over $80 million, or more than 10 times the losses for the same period a year earlier.
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