This “Crypto City” guide looks at Dubai’s crypto culture, its most notable projects and people, its financial infrastructure, which retailers accept crypto, and where you can find blockchain education courses.

Fast facts

City: Dubai
Country: United Arab Emirates
Population: 4 million
Established: 1833
Languages: Arabic (official), English (most common), Hindi is also widespread

Dubai, the largest city in the United Arab Emirates, is the eponymous capital of the Emirate of Dubai, one of the seven emirates (monarchies) that make up the UAE. Rising from the Arabian Desert and bordered by the Persian Gulf, the city is often likened to an oasis — its glistening skyscrapers, multiethnic population and high-tech, pro-business atmosphere impose a stark contrast to the landscape.

Before being nicknamed “the city of gold” for its rapid ascent and endless jewelry merchants in the famed Gold Souk market, Dubai was noted as a source of pearls by a Venetian merchant in 1580. Growing from a small fishing village, it signed defense treaties with the British in the 19th century, flourishing as a trading post after its ruler designated it as a free port with no taxation on imports or exports in 1901, also giving merchants grants of land along with a policy of protection and tolerance.

Over a century later and buttressed by oil wealth, Dubai has emerged as a magnetic tax-free crossroads between worlds, embracing its position as an international city that, in both progress and controversy, reflects the reality of the world…