According to the latest reports, Russians have been liquidating bitcoins to acquire real estate in Dubai. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), India, Israel and Georgia have refrained from joining the US and EU economic sanctions on Russia.
According to Reuters, cryptocurrency exchanges located in Dubai have been receiving requests to liquidate large amounts of bitcoin . The liquidated funds were used to buy real estate in Dubai and physical cash.
In recent days, there was a spike in real estate mortgages in Dubai and real estate gifts (that befit from lower taxation).
source: Dubai real estate transactions
source: Dubai real estate transactions
It appears Russians stacked their cryptocurrencies in exchanges that are located in Switzerland and for a good reason. Switzerland is famed for its neutrality status.
Swiss neutrality means the country will not involve itself in political or armed conflicts between other regions. We have seen this throughout World War 1 and World War 2.
Russian oligarchs may have assumed that due to Swiss neutrality, the digital assets are safe. As Switzerland announced it is breaking its neutrality and joining the EU economic sanctions on Russia, things have changed.
Reuters reported that a crypto company (the name is undisclosed) received orders from Swiss brokers to liquidate billions of dollars of BTC. There was a rising concern Switzerland may free the cryptocurrencies.
"We've had like five or six in the past two weeks. None of them has come off yet, they've sort of fallen over at the last minute, which is not rare, but we've never had this much interest.
"We have one guy, I don't know who he is, but he came through a broker, and they're like, 'we want to sell 125,000 bitcoin'. And I'm like, 'what? That's $6 billion guys'. And they're like, 'yeah, we're going to send it to a company in Australia',"
source: reuters
Large bitcoins transactions, some worth over $1 billion have been liquidated recently.
Dubai Cryptocurrency Regulations, SCA and VARA
The United Arab Emirates’ Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) has yet to implement regulations on cryptocurrencies. The Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) will require Dubai's residents to register prior to involvement in crypto assets including businesses.
Although it may be unrelated, over $1 billion was transferred out of Coinbase on 11 Match 2022.
source: whale-alert
source: whale-alert
source: whale-alert
Wealthy Russians may continue to seek safe havens for their assets. If Russians are locked out of real-estate markets, it is possible some may begin to turn to real estate in the metaverse.
Binance may have anticipated Russians will seek refuge in UAE, the crypto exchange applied for a license at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
