The cryptocurrency IOTA experienced a notable rally, surging by 38% in the last day, propelled by the announcement of the establishment of a foundation. The entity, named IOTA Ecosystem DLT Foundation, will be headquartered in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
The foundation’s primary goal is to focus on real-world assets and act as a bridge between Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and these assets in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. With an initial investment of $100 million, distributed over a four-year period, the foundation aims to collaborate with institutional investors, governments, and academic institutions to tokenize real-world assets. This approach seeks to channel billions of dollars into the virtual assets space of the United Arab Emirates.
What sets IOTA apart is its focus on the MENA region, making a significant difference compared to other networks specializing in real-world assets. This strategic move occurs in a context where other cryptocurrencies, such as Polkadot, are also active in expanding their operations. In this regard, Polkadot’s Web3 Foundation invested $1 million in U.S. Treasury Bonds, which were brought onto the chain by Anemoy, an asset issuer based on Centrifuge Chain.
According to the latest data from CoinMarketCap, IOTA is currently trading at $0.2405 per unit after a 38% increase. Its market capitalization underwent an identical growth, positioning itself around $730 million. On the other hand, its trading volume experienced a monstrous surge in the last 24 hours, with a growth of 12470.57%, approaching the $875 million mark.
IOTA Evolves Positively, and Abu Dhabi Aspires to Be a Pioneer in the World
This advancement in IOTA follows the launch of Shimmer in September, a Layer 1 network introducing web3 functionalities to the IOTA ecosystem. Shimmer, being compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine, enables the tokenization of real-world assets. The native currency of Shimmer (SMR) experienced a 17% increase in response to the news, marking a positive shift after a downward trend since February for both SMR and IOTA.
On the regulatory front, it is highlighted that the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) provides a progressive and receptive regulatory environment, positioning it as one of the most advanced regulatory environments globally. According to Hamad Sayah Al Mazrouei, CEO of the regulatory authority of ADGM, the aspiration is for Abu Dhabi to establish itself as a leading jurisdiction in the blockchain industry. This regulatory support aligns with ADGM’s vision of setting pioneering global standards in the blockchain and Web3 landscape.
