The Central Bank of Qatar plans to issue licenses to banks to work with digital assets

The Central Bank of Qatar is exploring the possibility of creating its own digital currency, as well as issuing permits to banks working with crypto assets to operate in the country.

Speaking at the Islamic Financial Conference in Doha, Alanood Abdullah Al Muftah, head of financial technology at the Bank of Qatar, said that the regulator is now trying to explore various aspects of financial technology.

Every central bank should explore the possibilities of digital banks, especially given their growing importance in the global market due to the introduction of crypto assets, al-Muftah said. According to him, digital and fintech companies play an important role in the development of the country’s financial sector. The Central Bank of Qatar is also studying the prospects and feasibility of launching its own digital currency.

Qatar launched a test regulatory sandbox last year with three fintech companies participating. Now they work in the payment sector and test their solutions with the participation of the Bank of Qatar. The regulator is also evaluating other companies to participate in the sandbox, which will be officially launched in the near future.

Narayanan Srinivasan, Director of Operations and Digital at Dukhan Bank, said the bank is exploring options for a digital bank in Qatar. It can be either a separate specialized bank or a division of Dukhan Bank.

There are already a number of digital asset banks in the Far East, Europe and other parts of the world, so it is time for Qatar to look into this issue as well, Srinivasan said. In addition, Dukhan Bank began to explore the use of blockchain for making payments. This year, the bank plans to launch new electronic services that may operate using this technology.

Recall that in 2020, the Qatar Financial Center Authority for State Regulation and Control banned the provision of services related to digital assets in the country.