Having supported Zug’s Crypto Valley in the early days and founded Crypto Oasis in Dubai to serve as blockchain innovations hubs with regulatory certainty, Ralf Glabischnig is practically a node of the blockchain industry.

When Bitcoin companies began pouring into his small town in Switzerland in 2013, Ralf Glabischnig was an IT consultant turned entrepreneur running a coworking space. It helped turn the town into ground zero for some of the earliest crypto companies, the Ethereum Foundation among them. 

Today, Glabischnig wears many hats, working across timezones to help build both Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates into regional powerhouses of the blockchain revolution. He holds decentralization dear to his heart — of regulations, companies and power — which he hopes will create an increasingly heavy counterweight to the powers that be.

Dubai

In many ways, Glabischnig sees places like Dubai and Zug as the long-foretold Bitcoin citadels of blockchain legend — secure cities catering to the nouveau riche of cryptocurrency.

“A few spots worldwide will attract the people who can afford it because it’s safe for their family — and those people bring the business.”

When it comes to Dubai as an emerging citadel of blockchain innovation, there is every reason to be optimistic. Last year, Glabischnig set a seemingly bold goal to see 1,000 blockchain companies in the UAE by the end of 2022 — a 90% increase in one year — but he now expects the…