Having an embassy in the metaverse isn’t a new thing. Companies, as well as countries, are well aware that a representation in the virtual space can be very promising. After all many analysts believe that the metaverse will see growth in the years to come and will play a vital role in the Web3 and the broader crypto economy.

How is Dubai involved and why is its regulatory authority for digital assets setting up a headquarter in the Sandbox?

VARA is entering the metaverse

Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) announced last Tuesday that it is going to establish a headquarter in the metaverse “The Sandbox”. According to the press release the regulatory authority plans to become more accessible to the crypto industry by entering its very own native environment.

This is indeed a unique approach that pays testimony to Dubai’s openness towards the crypto industry. But it also means that the authority had to buy digital land plots in the metaverse and is the first in history to do so.

The kingdom plans to become a crypto hub and has prepared a legal framework that is meant to protect investors and users while providing clarity to companies and blockchain developers alike.

Dubai, Barbados, and Adidas have something in common

The VARA is in fact the first authority to buy digital land plots but Dubai is not the first country that is becoming part of the metaverse. Barbados chose Decentraland and opened up an embassy last year. It seems that it is becoming more important for countries to open up to new ways of interacting with individuals globally.

The Sandbox is one of the most promising spaces in Web3 with many partnerships that caused quite a stir in the market last year. Among them is Adidas which became an exclusive partner to the Sandbox metaverse.

But there are also efforts to establish a cross-chain experience for users. This week Star Atlas which is a game based on Solana started a VoxEdit contest together with the Sandbox connecting both worlds for the first time. The winners of the contest will be announced in June and contestants have time until Mai 16th to submit their contributions. A total of 50.000 SAND tokens will be split between the top entries. It seems that the Sandbox is growing further and creating more exciting opportunities while most market participants rather focus on the Fed’s next decision.