Dubai. 🇦🇪 The safest city in the world. The most forward-thinking. The most welcoming. ⚡️ This is why we chose to build here, and why @DubaiDET stands with us. 🇦🇪 Thank you to the UAE government, law enforcement, and every institution that makes this city the gold standard for global events. 🙏 MENA Blockchain Week. 18–24 May. The city is the venue. 🇦🇪

Pro tip for my fellow MBA students: If you’re at a British university, set your document language to UK English before you start typing. 🔥 Drafting in US en and switching it back to UK en later is a joke 🙃 Weekend MBA vibes ⚡️

We are entering a new era of state-controlled AI. Both the US and China are now stepping in with heavy government interventions. Look at the recent precedents: 🇺🇸 The US directive forced the sudden shutdown of Claude Fable 5. 🇨🇳 Beijing regulators ordered Meta to unwind its $2B acquisition of AI agent Manus. When both superpowers treat AI as a national security asset rather than a standard tool, centralized systems become incredibly fragile. If a state decree can pull a model offline or block a deal overnight, does this make the ultimate case for decentralized, open-access AI? 🔓

Inspiration story for MENA builders 🙌🔥 congrats @amasad ⚡️

Learning on the way is the key to grow powered by @Google @GoogleStartups ⚡️

Cool session with @google for startups, all about agentic Ai 🙌 beast mode on 🔥

Not just an event. An ecosystem. This is exactly the vision we built MENA Blockchain Week for. Proud of every piece of the blueprint. 🇦🇪 #MENABlockchainWeek #dubai

AI builders. Traders. Community makers. The final day had it all. 🇦🇪 This community is what made #MENABlockchainWeek more than an event, it made it a movement. Proud of every one of you.

Day 7, our final day, ended with empowering women in Web3 to learn all about AI through the GirlsWhoAI community & @genspark_ai 🙌 Stay tuned for the next edition and more recaps 🚀

Day 7 of @MENABCW was special, starting with @google @GDGSharjah_ for a build with AI workshops, then continuing with lessons on how to trade using AI and all about building communities. It wrapped up with Girls Who and @genspark_ai. ⚡️

Day 7 with day 2 of Build with Ai by @google @GDGSharjah_ 🙌

Yeah, they called me crazy for doing the first 7 days of Blockchain Week in Dubai 🇦🇪, but fun fact, we ended up doing 8 days not just 7 🙌 @MENABCW just the beginning 🔥 Thanks everyone for joining! Avatar credits to @ai3labs ⚡️

Day 6 continues to be special by having Creators Day Meetup 🔥 - Podcasting and content creation workshop by @AWPRO_TV team - Special guest Ahmad Hanoun from @Binance Square to share all about sharing and earning 🙌 Thanks everyone for joining us ⚡️

Day 6 was special day having @GDGSharjah_ Google Developer Groups Sharjah starting the day on Build with Ai with many speakers featured below including top Ai companiea @Google & others 🙌

The event is over. The momentum isn't. 🇦🇪 Looking back at Day 5, Bitcoin Pizza Day with the community at Hadron Founders Club. This is what MENA Blockchain Week was really about. 🍕 #MENABlockchainWeek

Thanks for joining us @genspark_ai and especially for empowering women in web3 to learn all about AI from promoting and beyond 🔥 Congrats to Nassima Ahmed @tigertopaz3942 and the #GirlsWhoAI community ⚡️

No pizzas were harmed during the event

MENA Blockchain Week, Day 5 Recap 🇦🇪 May 22. One City. One Week. One Nation. 🇦🇪 Day 5 of MENA Blockchain Week 2026 was the day the industry stopped talking about what tokenization could be and started accounting for what it already is. From a closed-door stablecoin conference at DMCC to fireside chats on the founder journey, from the hardest questions about institutional RWA demand to the most human tradition in crypto. 🔷 Middle East Stablecoin Association, MESA x DMCC x Dubai Digital Asset Association (D2A2) Stablecoin Conference The agenda went deep across six panels and a fireside chat. D2A2 and MESA opened on sovereignty and settlement. Zodia Markets and AD Ports tackled stablecoins as live treasury infrastructure. Fasset, RAKBank, and Zand went straight at what banks actually need. FinEthica Advisory held the sharpest fireside of the week on AML risk. CMS and Karm Legal on legal status and risk management. Aquanow and Polygon on what's actually live on stablecoin rails. BurjX and Binance closed on what exchanges need from issuers. Ledger and YAP Global were also in the room. Four hours. Seven sessions. 🔷 RWA & Tokenization Meetup 🔷 Panel 1: From Vault to Chain, Real-World Asset Tokenization and the Rise of On-Chain Finance Thought leaders shaping the conversation: 🤝 Areeb Ahmad, Senior Associate, TLP Advisors 🤝 Jorge Carrasco, Managing Director, Blockchain and Digital Assets, FTI Consulting 🔷 Panel 2: Beyond the Buzz. Is There Real Institutional Demand for RWAs? Thought leaders shaping the conversation: 🤝 Dr. Anna A. MacMillan, Co-Founder & COO, Mintlayer @annamacmillan 🤝 Jad Kachmar, Head of Operations, PRYPCO 🤝 Sebastian Agren, COO, Tribe 🤝 Saed Ereiqat, Director, Hadron Founders Club 🔷 Fireside Chat: Anton Golub x Sebastian Agren 🤝 Anton Golub, Founding Member, RWA Tokenization 🤝 Sebastian Agren, COO, Tribe 🔷 Fireside Chat: The Founders Guide to Investment 🤝 Balbinder Singh, Principal, Santos Family Office 🤝 CJ Anand, Director of Advisory, Ghaf Labs 🔷 Evening: Bitcoin Pizza Day Meetup The Bitcoin Pizza Day Meetup brought the Web3 community together at Hadron Founders Club for an evening with no agenda, no panels, and no pitch decks. 🤝 Mohamad Alhusseini, MoeX, Founder & Director, SkyNet X Solutions, SNXS.ae 🤝 Saed Ereiqat, Director, Hadron Founders Club 🌐 Full recap: menablockchainweek.ae/post/m… Stay tuned for Day 6 Recap 👇 #MENABlockchainWeek #MENABCW #ProudofUAE Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism @DubaiDET | SkyNet X Solutions @SNXS_ae @Moexba | Hadron Founders Club @Hadronfc | DMCC (Dubai Multi Commodities Centre) @DMCCAuthority | Middle East Stablecoin Association - MESA | Dubai Digital Asset Association (D2A2) @D2A2_official | Zodia Markets | @ADPortsGroup | @fasset | RAKBANK @RAKBANKlive | Zand @Official_Zand | FinEthica Advisory | CMS @CMS_Law_Tax | KARM Legal | Aquanow @aquanow | Polygon Labs @0xPolygon | BurjX @burjxofficial | @binance | @Ledger | YAP Global @YAPGlobalTeam | @TLPAdvisors | @FTIConsulting | @mintlayer | PRYPCO @prypcocom | Tribe | @GhafLabs | Santos Family Office

MENA Blockchain Week, Day 5 Recap 🇦🇪. May 22. One City. One Week. One Nation. 🇦🇪 The stablecoin conversation the MENA region has been waiting for happened here. 🔷 Middle East Stablecoin Association, MESA x DMCC x Dubai Digital Asset Association (D2A2) Stablecoin Conference The day opened at the DMCC Crypto Center, Uptown Tower, the UAE's leading hub for crypto businesses and home to some of the region's most consequential Web3 conversations. A closed-door, by-invitation 4-hour conference hosted by the Middle East Stablecoin Association, DMCC Crypto Center, and the Dubai Digital Asset Association, bringing together the issuers, bankers, lawyers, technologists, and exchange operators actually shaping what comes next. The agenda went deep: 🔷 Panel 1: Sovereignty, Settlement & Strategic Positioning in the MENA Region 🤝 Saqr Ereiqat, Dubai Digital Asset Association (D2A2) 🤝 Ramy Soliman, Middle East Stablecoin Association, MESA 🤝 Maia Zennie, Middle East Stablecoin Association, MESA 🔷 Panel 2: Stablecoins as Treasury Infrastructure: Yield, Liquidity & Corporate Use Cases 🤝 Nick Philpott, Zodia Markets 🤝 Khaloud Alhammadi, AD Ports 🔷 Panel 3: What Banks Need Before They Touch Stablecoins 🤝 Mehtap Oender, Fasset 🤝 AbuBakar Mujahid, RAKBank 🤝 Mark NG, Zand 🔷 Fireside Chat: Who Owns the AML Risk, Issuer, VASP or Bank? 🤝 Ilham Tamimi, FinEthica Advisory 🔷 Panel 4: The Legal Status of a Stablecoin and Risk Management Strategies 🤝 Matthew Nyman, CMS 🤝 Akshata Namjoshi, Karm Legal Consultants 🔷 Panel 5: Building on Stablecoin Rails, Infrastructure, Interoperability & What's Actually Live 🤝 Aman Ghose, Aquanow 🤝 Jia-Tern Ng, Polygon 🔷 Panel 6: Listing, Custody & Market Making, What Exchanges Actually Need from Stablecoin Issuers 🤝 Omar Abbas, BurjX 🤝 Sami Khojali Mustafa, Binance 2026 is the year the region's stablecoin infrastructure starts to crystallize. The conversations from this room will shape how the MENA stablecoin market moves in the next decade. Stay tuned for Day 6 Recap 👇 🌐 Full recap: menablockchainweek.ae/post/m… #MENABlockchainWeek #MENABCW #ProudofUAE Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism @DubaiDET | SkyNet X Solutions @SNXS_ae @Moexba | Hadron Founders Club @Hadronfc | DMCC (Dubai Multi Commodities Centre) @DMCCAuthority | Middle East Stablecoin Association - MESA | Dubai Digital Asset Association (@D2A2_official) | Zodia Markets | AD Ports Group @ADPortsGroup | Fasset @fasset | RAKBANK @RAKBANKlive | Zand @Official_Zand | FinEthica Advisory | CMS @CMS_Law_Tax | KARM Legal | Aquanow @aquanow | Polygon Labs @0xPolygon | BurjX @burjxofficial | @binance | @Ledger | YAP Global @YAPGlobalTeam

🔷Evening Recap: TCAE Crypto Compliance Fireside Chat & Networking Event. Compliance is not just a function. In the UAE, it is becoming a community. The day closed with a sold-out exclusive gathering for Crypto Compliance and AML professionals, hosted by TCAE MENA in partnership with MENA Blockchain Week at Hadron Founders Club. This one was not open to everyone. Built specifically for Compliance and AML professionals, the evening brought together the people navigating the hardest regulatory work in the region for a fireside discussion, insightful conversations, and open networking over light canapés and refreshments. Thought leaders shaping the conversation: 🤝 Dr. Mohamed Al Abdulla, Head of Anti-Financial Crimes, Ministry of Interior, Bahrain 🤝 Abdullah Alawi, Strategic Compliance Leader, Binance 🤝 Arushi Goel, Advisor, Chainalysis 🤝 Souzan Esmaili, Founder & CEO, TCAE & TCAE MENA The MENA region is not waiting to be regulated. It is shaping what regulation looks like for the rest of the world. Day 4 made that clear. 🌐 Full day recap: menablockchainweek.ae/post/m… Stay tuned for Day 5 Recap #MENABlockchainWeek #MENABCW #ProudofUAE Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism @DubaiDET | SkyNet X Solutions @SNXS_ae | Hadron Founders Club @Hadronfc

MENA Blockchain Week, Day 4 Recap 🇦🇪 One City. One Week. One Nation. 🇦🇪 Day 4 Recap: Regulation, Security & Compliance. May 21st Regulation, Security & Compliance Day brought together the people who are actively building the legal and operational foundations that the entire digital assets industry depends on. Here is what happened: 🔷 Embodied AI Community Meetup, Bits & Atoms The day opened with a conversation at the intersection of physical and digital intelligence. 🔷 Regulation, Security & Compliance Meetup 🎤 Keynote: Regulation as Tokenisation Rails, The UAE Opportunity 🤝 Alenka Shmalko, Head of Tokenization at Atom Real Tokens, Advisor in Digital Assets & RWAs @alenka_on_x The opening keynote reframed how the room thinks about regulation. 🔷 Panel 1: Rules of the Region, How Regulatory Frameworks Are Shaping MENA Digital Assets VARA's framework is not a local story. It is becoming the blueprint the rest of the region is building around. Thought leaders shaping the conversation: 🤝 Igor Bershadsky, Chief Growth Officer, Hacken, @hackenclub 🤝 Paul Boots, Senior Director, Head of Sector Development, Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (@varadubai) 🤝 Marwan Hachem, CEO, @FearsOff 🤝 Alenka Shmalko, Head of Tokenization at Atom Real Tokens, Advisor in Digital Assets & RWAs 🔷 Panel 2: Built to Last. Security, Custody, and the Infrastructure Resilience Imperative Every institution moving on-chain eventually hits the same wall. Custody. Thought leaders shaping the conversation: 🤝 Gabriel Khoury, Senior Counsel, Silk Legal 🤝 Harshil Agarwal, Partner, @TLPAdvisors 🤝 Icaro Avelar, Head of Virtual Assets and Financial Regulations, Banks Legal & Corporate Services 🤝 Dr. Anna A. MacMillan, Co-Founder & COO, Mintlayer @annamacmillan @mintlayer 🔷 Panel 3: The Digital Economy. Crypto, RWAs & Payment The line between crypto rails and traditional payment infrastructure is not blurring. It is disappearing. Thought leaders shaping the conversation: 🤝 Lucy Balicki, OTC Distribution, Laser Digital 🤝 Chirag Mehta, CBO, Hedgit 🤝 Ali Boukhalfa, Head of MENA, P2P.Org, @P2Pvalidator 🤝 Chantal Bradford, Head of EMEA Market Sales, @coinbase 🔷 Panel 4: How Regulation and Security Are Shaping Real-World Utility Across Web3 and Emerging Tech Regulation without deployment is just paperwork. This panel showed what it looks like when the frameworks actually hit the ground. Thought leaders shaping the conversation: 🤝 Samy Tzaprenko, Co-Founder, Elios 🤝 Bindesh Vijayan, Co-Founder & CTO, Myndlab @Myndlab_ai 🤝 Raj Kamal, Founder & CEO, TransFi @getTransFi 🤝 Sebastien Marque, VP of Strategy, Luna PR @LunaPRofficial 🔷 Evening: TCAE Compliance Event The day closed with an exclusive gathering for Crypto Compliance and AML professionals, hosted by TCAE MENA in partnership with MENA Blockchain Week. 🌐 Full day recap: menablockchainweek.ae/post/m… Stay tuned for Day 5 Recap 👇 #MENABlockchainWeek #MENABCW #ProudofUAE Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism @DubaiDET | SkyNet X Solutions @SNXS_ae | Hadron Founders Club @Hadronfc