Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund explores blockchain investment opportunities

The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has made a distinction between blockchain technology and digital currencies. Mansoor bin Ebrahim Al-Mahmoud, CEO of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, said it was only interested in investing in blockchain technology and not in digital currencies.

He made the remark while talking about QIA’s economic diversification task during the Qatar Economic Forum event in Doha organized by Bloomberg.

“Our technology team is exploring opportunities in the blockchain. This is the place we are interested in, not the currency itself,” he said during the interview.

QIA is the 15th largest sovereign wealth fund globally, with over $ 300 billion in total assets. In addition to exploring investment opportunities in the blockchain area, Al-Mahmoud states that QIA also wants to expand its portfolio with investments in Africa, Europe and the automotive sector.

His statement on blockchain technology is in line with comments from Qatar’s central bank (QCB) governor, HE Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud Al Thani, during the same incident. Al-Thani noted that Qatar considers blockchain technology to have great potential to help the country implement its digital transformation.

The governor also claimed digital currencies to be risky while revealing that the central bank was at the basic stage of exploring a central bank’s digital currency (CBDC).

Blockchain technology investment races gain momentum in the Middle East

Qatar is not the only country in the Middle East that is interested in investing in blockchain technology. Others, including Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), have also made significant progress in this direction.

Earlier this month, Oman’s sovereign wealth fund announced an investment in Crusoe Energy Systems Inc., a US-based blockchain-based mining company that uses stranded natural gas to operate.

Part of the agreement is that the company will establish a store in the Sultanate. The operation will help the country reduce its contribution to gas flaring.

Similarly, the United Arab Emirates has several initiatives aimed at expanding the use of blockchain technology in its management in line with the ambiguous goal of putting 50% of its public operations on the chain.

The Emirate of Dubai has grown rapidly to become a hotbed of digital assets since the introduction of licensing regulations. Other emirates, including Abu Dhabi, are also gaining regular clarity.

See: BSV Global Blockchain Convention Panel, Blockchain in the Middle East and South Asia

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