DUBAI: More than 1,000 companies in the UAE will board the crypto bandwagon by the end of this year, estimated the co-founder of Crypto Oasis, a Dubai-based venture that fosters the blockchain ecosystem in the UAE. Speaking on the sidelines of the Top CEO event in Dubai, Crypto Oasis co-founder Saqr Ereiqat told Arab News that the company has an opportunity to develop an ecosystem that is untapped in the Middle East. “That ecosystem consists of talent, capital and infrastructure,” said Ereiqat. From a physical, regulatory or digital point of view, the Middle East has some of the best infrastructures in the world, he said. The company began investing in 2022 and has made 24 investments in 20 different projects since then. “That is a testament to this fast-paced, growing ecosystem we operate in,” he added. Crypto Oasis intends to invest in the top 10 percent of companies in the ecosystem, he said. Currently, the company has a cap of $10 million, but Ereiqat states that he sees it growing in the future. “We want to make strategic investments where we invest $50,000 to $250,000 in many projects, riding the wave with the ecosystem,” he said. He informed that the company is working with regulators, businesses, free zones and governments to create a regulatory infrastructure. “Crypto Oasis is creating the same infrastructure and geography as Silicon Valley but for the blockchain and crypto ecosystem,” Ereiqat added. When asked what makes Crypto Oasis different, Ereiqat said he does not think there is competition since the ecosystem is large enough for everyone to engage. However, he added that the company supports talented intrapreneurs to get connected to the proper regulatory infrastructure. With the Dubai Multi Commodities Center, Ereiqat said that Crypto Oasis has helped create a regulatory infrastructure where companies can come, get registered, and use their blockchain, distributed ledger technology, Metaverses, and non-fungible tokens. According to him, the company hopes to have people refer to this ecosystem as the Crypto Oasis. “We’re very proud that although we’ve just launched in November, we can already see international publications referring to this area as the Crypto Oasis,” he added.