The REAL series, convened by the Dubai Blockchain Center (DBCC) concluded a four-event programme across Dubai that brought together more than 1,000 participants from 683 companies between April and July 2026. More than 63% of attendees held C-suite, founder or director-level roles.
Bringing together government entities, regulators, investors, innovators, academics and industry leaders, the series, supported by Dubai Business Events (DBE), part of the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), created a focused platform for dialogue on blockchain governance, capital deployment and the financial infrastructure supporting the region’s digital economy.
Participants included representatives from the UAE Ministry of Economy and Tourism, the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), DET, Dubai Police, Dubai Police Academy, DMCC and the MENA Fintech Association, alongside a wider group of government, ecosystem, academic and industry partners.
Regulatory frameworks
“Through strong legislative and regulatory frameworks, and national institutions such as the Central Bank, VARA, the SCA, ADGM and DIFC, we are developing settlement infrastructure, programmable compliance, tokenised claims on real cash flows, and regulated stablecoins backed by sovereign-grade reserves, reinforcing the UAE’s position as a leading, trusted financial hub at regional and global levels,” observed HE Abdulaziz Al-Nuaimi, Assistant Undersecretary for Entrepreneurship and the Economic Affairs Regulatory Sector at the UAE Ministry of Economy and Tourism.
“Platforms such as REAL further reinforce Dubai’s position as a leading global destination for business events, while supporting the ambitions of the Dubai Economic Agenda, D33, to consolidate the city’s role at the forefront of innovation and the digital economy,” remarked Ahmed Al Khaja, CEO, Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment, part of DET.
Declaration
“REAL was never just an event; it was a declaration carried across four events. The institutional layer of the blockchain economy has matured through market cycles and regulatory evolution, and what we saw across the series was the result: serious decision-makers, including fund managers, regulators, exchanges and sovereign allocators, meeting in Dubai not to speculate, but to build.,” commented Dr Marwan Alzarouni, CEO of Dubai Blockchain Center.
“As home to one of the world’s most dynamic Web3 ecosystems, bringing together innovators, investors and institutions under one roof is exactly how DMCC continues to turn emerging technologies into commercial opportunities,” concluded Belal Jassoma, Senior Director, Tech Ecosystems, DMCC.
