Saudi Arabia’s Apex Bank Taps Crypto Veteran to Drive Digital Ambitions

In its bid to advance its crypto ambitions, Saudi Arabia’s banking regulator has tapped Mohsen AlZahrani to lead its digital asset and central bank virtual asset program.

According to a Bloomberg report citing anonymous sources, this became necessary as the neighboring United Arab Emirates has developed into a global crypto hub.

Owing to its speculative nature, the Saudi Arabian government before now has been careful in its approach to the nascent asset class.

Before his appointment, Mohsen was the former managing director at Consultancy firm, Accenture. Mohsen will report to the Central Bank’s deputy governor for development and technology Zaid Al Yousef who is part of a team engaging leading crypto firms to formulate future regulations for the industry.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s government is currently working on a joint digital currency with the United Arab Emirates

As part of moves to scale the growth of the digital ecosystem in the nation, Saudi Digital Academy partnered with Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV) Blockchain Association to develop its first blockchain academy.

The academy will provide training services and development resources for several audiences that include developers, startups, and government representatives.

Other key hires in the crypto ecosystem

In July, the UK Treasury tapped Ashley Alder to lead its financial regulatory arm, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) beginning from January 2023. 

Before the appointment, Ashley served as the CEO of Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission. He would oversee the nation’s post-Brexit plan to become a global financial hub via world-leading regulatory standards.

The regulator also plans to hire 500 employees as it’s shopping for crypto veterans for its upcoming crypto department.

Meanwhile, earlier in August, the UK financial watchdog issued new guidelines to combat misleading advertisements for high-risk assets. Aside from regulators making key hires to better the crypto space, crypto firms are not left out, as a good number of firms have also tapped veterans to strengthen their footprint.

Just recently, former Commissioner of the United States Commodities Futures Trading Commission, Jill Simmers joined FTX U.S to reshape the market structure in the nation.

Also, Daphne Kwon joined FlipSide Crypto, a crypto analytics firm to lead its DAO initiatives following its success in summoning MetricsDAO