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Saudi Arabia's central bank will become the first to pilot a crypto-based payments solution between the country's banks. The central bank will also provide training and program management around blockchain.
Most regulators in the Gulf initially expressed scepticism about fintech and last year the Saudi central bank warned citizens against trading bitcoin because it was outside the bank’s regulatory reach. But Bahrain, keen to boost its role as a regional financial center, has been exploring the use of digital currencies and in the last few months, regulators in some larger Gulf economies have followed suit. The Saudi central bank is working with the United Arab Emirates central bank to issue a digital currency that would be accepted in cross-border transactions between the two countries, UAE central bank governor Mubarak Rashed al-Mansouri told Reuters in December.
