Saudi Arabia - UAE Set to Launch Their Own Cryptocurrency

Saudi Arabia is planning to launch their own native digital currency in 2019, according to the reports by Argaam.

The new cryptocurrency will be backed by the Saudi central bank. It will help enable cross-border payments in a certain number of banks. The list of banks is not yet confirmed.

The Head of innovation at the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA), the Kingdom’s central bank, Mohsen Al Zahrani, told the Saudi Press Agency, "Saudi Arabia’s cryptocurrency project with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will be almost finalized by mid-2019", reported Argaam.

SAMA is studying the feasibility of the new currency rollout among all banks, Al Zahrani added on the sidelines of the Blockchain future applications conference held yesterday.

UAE's digital currency is in the design phase. According to the news listed by Argaam from Ro’ya newspaper, Governor of UAE’s Central Bank, Mubarak Al-Mansouri cited saying "UAE’s planned digital currency is now in the design phase in cooperation with the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA)"

Recently, Dubai launched its First Government-Endorsed Blockchain Platform Powered By IBM, Dubai Blockchain Platform. And Ripple labs recently announced it plans to open an office in Dubai.