News

Kuwait Bans Cryptocurrencies, Putting An End To Virtual Assets

The Gulf state has also prohibited cryptocurrency mining.

Published

3 years ago

July 28, 2023

kuwait bans cryptocurrencies putting and end to virtual assets

Kuwait has enacted a complete ban on virtual asset transactions, making it illegal to digitally trade, transfer, or invest cryptocurrencies in the country. The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) also noted that the ban would extend to mining cryptocurrencies.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are included in the ban, but the legislation does not extend to digital representations of physical currencies, securities, or other financial assets.

The new law aligns with Kuwait’s 2013 legislation concerning money laundering and terrorist financing. People breaching the regulations could face severe penalties, including fines and even imprisonment.

MENA countries, including Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Turkey, Iran, and Iraq, have all imposed restrictions or bans on virtual assets over the last few years. However, in stark contrast, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have encouraged the use of digital assets, and cryptocurrencies in particular.

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Binance received a Dubai operating license in March 2022, around the same time the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority was established there. Meanwhile, Bahrain’s Central Bank released a paper on virtual assets in November 2020, outlining how they could best be regulated and used in the Gulf state.

News

Trip.com Is Betting An AI Agent Will Book Your Next Vacation

Abu Dhabi, Jazeera Airways and a run of hotel deals give the company more inventory. Its Mastercard demo says the most about where booking technology is headed.

Published

2 days ago

September 16, 2026

Nour Nasir

trip.com is betting an ai agent will book your next vacation

Most of what Trip.com Group announced at Arabian Travel Market 2026 this week reads like the standard expansion playbook of an online travel agency: a new agreement with a tourism board, a run of hotel partnerships, an airline deal. However, one item was considerably more interesting: a demonstration built with Mastercard of an AI agent that doesn’t just suggest trips but also pays for them.

trip.com tripgenie ai agent

The showcase put TripGenie, the company’s AI travel assistant, to work searching, selecting and completing purchases inside a single booking flow, with Mastercard’s Agent Suite for Merchants handling the payment step and Network International processing the transactions on the merchant side. It’s limited for now to attractions and ancillary services, but the partners plan a phased commercial rollout from early 2027.

“As traveller expectations change, technology and AI will play an increasingly important role in how people plan their journeys,” says Schubert Lou, CEO of Trip.com.

Meanwhile, in more conventional news, CEO Lou and Saleh Mohamed Al Geziry (Director General for Tourism at the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi), signed an agreement building on the two organizations’ existing partnership, with joint marketing and Abu Dhabi destination content to be pushed across Trip.com Group’s platforms.

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On accommodation, the group expanded its partnerships with JA Hotels & Resorts, Ishraq Hospitality and Aleph Hospitality and deepened its work with Silkhaus, which brings vacation homes into a portfolio that has so far leaned on hotels. Jazeera Airways signed a strategic partnership intended to widen the Kuwaiti carrier’s reach and encourage earlier bookings, tied to Kuwait’s own tourism ambitions.

The company moved into a larger Dubai office earlier this year and describes its long-term aim as a two-way ecosystem: sending Middle East travelers abroad while drawing international visitors in.