The future of crypto in the Asia-Middle East corridor lies in permissioned scale
As Asia and the Middle East lead crypto adoption, success no longer comes from avoiding regulation, but mastering compliance to unlock true scale.
Opinion by: Dipendra Jain, co-founder of TCX
Regulation has become the baseline for crypto. From the United States’ regulatory enforcement to Dubai’s comprehensive crypto rulebook and India’s renewed debate on formalizing Bitcoin reserves, governments are rewriting the rules of digital finance. As listed institutions, retailers and social networks weigh in on digital asset rails, stablecoins and yield mechanisms, the real story is no longer what’s next, but who is building what comes next.
Speculation once drove adoption, but structured compliance catalyzes scale across the Asia-Middle East corridor. Hubs like the United Arab Emirates and India represent the treatment of regulation as the backbone of innovation. The UAE is pushing a unified virtual asset service providers (VASP) framework to accelerate global crypto ambitions. At the same time, India is opening the door for offshore crypto exchanges to return, with approvals now subject to the review of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).
