Global and regional blockchain leaders gathered in Egypt this week to discuss how blockchain can transform economies and societies across the MENA region. The meeting, hosted by the newly established Arab Blockchain Center in partnership with Pravica and the Arab Academy for Science, Technology, and Maritime Transport (AASTMT), focused on practical applications in finance, logistics, academia, and government.
Attendees included Kostas Kryptos Chalkias, Co-Founder and Chief Cryptographer of Mysten Labs (creators of Sui), Mohamed Abdou, CEO of Pravica, Georgios Siourounis, CEO of xMoney Global, and Tony Amer, CEO of EMURGO Labs. They emphasized blockchain’s potential in cross-border payments, digital identity, and document security—critical for sectors such as remittances, which contribute 9% ($35 billion) of Egypt’s GDP.
Chalkias highlighted Sui’s scalability and asset ownership architecture as ideal for enabling financial inclusion, while Abdou stressed the ambition to build an “on-chain banking 2.0” ecosystem for secure remittances and lending. Siourounis underlined the importance of connecting financial systems across borders, and Amer urged Egypt and the wider region to take an active role in shaping blockchain adoption.
Despite Egypt’s ban on cryptocurrency trading, the government is actively exploring blockchain in trade, logistics, carbon markets, and a potential CBDC. With over 98% of Egyptian businesses being micro to SMEs, blockchain integration could prove transformative for the nation’s financial and digital future.
