Innocent BenjaminDubai-based organisation, Kiklabb, has become the first ever governmental organisation in the UAE to accept payment in Cryptocurrency, according to UAE’s most reliable finance paper, Argaam.
The company announced via a statement that it as starting today, it would permit the use of the digital currencies to pay for commercial licenses and visas.
The firm further added that to ensue a smooth sailing of the transition, it would be partnering a group of “technology sectors in the field of blockchain and capital to provide the option of repayment.”
UAE is often regarded the most crypto-friendly and advanced country in the Middle-East, as in February 2018, Dubai gold trader Regal RA DMCC became the first company in the Middle East to get a license to trade cryptocurrencies.
This warm reception to the digital currency contrasts the stance of other Arab countries like Algeria, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Tunisia), Lebanon, and Kuwait, who have all expressed their concerns regarding the sustainability and volatile nature of the currency.
UAE however reiterated that the accepted currencies of Bitcoin and Ehteruem will not be replacing national currencies.
Acceptance, involvement and investment from governmental organisations like that of the oil-rich Arab country is a welcome development to the evolving digital space as governments of other countries have expressed aversion, pessimism and fear of the stability of digital currencies by imposing bans on corporate financial institutions from dealing in any transaction involving the currency.
Major economies like Canada, Russia, China, India, and Nigeria are some of those that have spearheaded this apathy as citizens of other countries watch this currencies substantially appreciate in value.
Microstrategy To Sell Convertible Notes To Buy More Bitcoins
The world’s largest publicly traded business intelligence company, Microstrategy, has revealed plans to sell its convertible notes in an effort to raise $600 million to buy more bitcoins to add to the 70,470 coins in their coffers.
In August 2020, Microstrategy first purchased Bitcoins from Coinbase exchange for a total fee of $250 million citing declining value of Fiat currency including dollar and other global economic factors as decisive reasons for the investment.
In December, they sold company convertible senior notes to fund the purchase of more of the digital currency, taking the total outlay to excesses of $1 billion.
The CEO of the company, Michael Saylor broke the data down in a December tweet,
“Microstrategy has purchased an additional 29,646 bitcoins for $650 million at an average price of $21,925 per bitcoin and now hodl an aggregate of 70,470 bitcoins purchased for $1.125 billion at an average price of $15,964 per bitcoin.”
This translated to an average rate of $15,964 per Bitcoin in 2020. With the explosion of the currency in 2020, there has been a 213% increase in price to Tuesday’s peak of $500,000, a 213 percent profit for the company.
This meant that Microstrategy’s total Bitcoin holding is valued at $3.52 billion, more than two times their investment capital, yet the company are still eager to invest more.
It is worth noting that in knowledge of the definite fact that the billionaire’s involvement will spike crypto prices, Michael Saylor had publicly advised Tesla boss, Elon Musk to “convert the $TSLA balance sheet from USD to BTC,”citing his towering influence as an encouragement to other investors, “other firms on the S&P 500 would follow your lead & in time it would grow to become a $1 trillion favor,” going as far as offering to share his playbook with Musk offline.
Few weeks later, Musk obliged and acquired $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin holdings to trigger a flurry of copycat moves from other large firms.
Microstrategy continue to perform well on the stock exchange , with their stock rising nearly four percent in premarket trade.
James steller
