Innovation City, the UAE's AI and Web3-focused free zone in Ras Al Khaimah, has rolled out a blockchain-based business identity system that replaces conventional paper licenses with soulbound digital assets. Every company registered in the zone now holds a cryptographically verifiable onchain identity on a public blockchain, eliminating the need for a centralised database.
OPN Chain Powers the Identity Layer
The system is built on OPN Chain, a public blockchain from UAE-based IOPn that runs on Cosmos SDK with full EVM compatibility. It covers the free zone's existing base of over 1,000 registered companies, starting with live utility inside Innovation City's own digital ecosystem before expanding to technology, legal, and marketing partners. Instead of a static document issued by an authority, a business licence becomes a portable digital asset that any third party can verify directly without routing through a central intermediary.
Executives Call It a Structural Break
Innovation City CEO Paul Dawalibi described the move as a break from decades-old business identity models, calling traditional systems slow, opaque, and built for a bygone era. IOPn CEO Mojtaba Asadian positioned OPN Chain as the identity foundation for the UAE's shift toward an agentic AI economy, designed to be cross-sector, cross-jurisdictional, and compliant. The chain uses a hybrid data model — core transaction data and identity proofs onchain, sensitive or large datasets offchain. Validator participation is open to institutions, infrastructure partners, and governance-approved node operators, ensuring no single geographic event can bring down the identity infrastructure.
External Adoption Still Pending
No specific banks, regulators, or exchanges have been named as parties currently accepting the onchain credentials, leaving their real-world portability dependent on institutional onboarding. However, the initiative aligns with the UAE government's directive to transition 50% of federal government sectors to agentic AI within two years, a goal requiring machine-readable, autonomously verifiable business identities.
Wider UAE Blockchain Push
Separately, Mastercard has expanded stablecoin settlement into the UAE via a partnership with ADI Foundation, embedding blockchain payment rails under existing regulatory frameworks. Royal family-linked Citadel Mining has also accumulated 6,782 BTC (~$453.6M), generating an estimated $344M in unrealized profit after energy costs, according to FinanceFeeds.