As the global blockchain ecosystem matures, entrepreneurs are increasingly seeking jurisdictions that balance innovation with infrastructure, and few places are doing this as purposefully as RAK Digital Asset Oasis (RAK DAO) in the United Arab Emirates. 

 

Today, we revisit an interview with RAK DAO’s Chief Commercial Officer Luc Froehlich, held at the iconic Carrousel du Louvre during the 6th edition of the Paris Blockchain Week.

 

Background

 

Q: It would be great if you start telling us a bit about yourself, your background, and how you ended up at RAK DAO?

 

A: I am the Chief Commercial Officer of RAK Digital Asset Oasis (RAK DAO), a licensing authority under the government of Ras Al Khaimah—the RAK in RAK DAO.

 

Ras Al Khaimah is one of the seven Emirates in the UAE. We are a licensing authority enabling companies operating in the blockchain and digital asset space to grow their business. 

 

We incorporate companies and provide them access to traditional partners who help with services like opening a bank account, accessing a law firm, or obtaining a tax adviser. We also connect them with specialized partners who can help with services like writing whitepapers or designing a governance framework.

 

Q: How and why was RAK DAO started?

 

A: The ruler of Ras Al Khaimah proposed establishing RAK as a global hub for blockchain and digital asset technology.

 

It’s not in competition with the established regulators that people know in the UAE, like VARA and ADGM, in the sense that RAK DAO focuses on non-regulated activities. So we would not onboard companies that are running an exchange, in the payment system, or custody assets. Our focus is on companies operating blockchain technology. The spectrum of companies that we focus on is broad, from gaming to payments. We also have a license for AI agent developers.

 

Free zones in the UAE

Q: What is a free zone, and what benefits does it offer founders? 

 

A: This concept is specific to the UAE. You can think of a free zone as an economic zone—areas that can regulate themselves but respect the federal government’s overarching set of rules, including the rules set by the UAE central bank and ESCA. But within those specific zones, you can establish rules that are typically tailored for specific industries.

 

There are 50+ different zones. Some are focused on motorsports, the media industry, or port activities. As you can guess, the RAK Digital Asset Oasis is in the digital asset space.

 

You can establish your company there and control 100% of it. There are tax advantages, such as a zero income tax rate.

 

You also have the flexibility to attract talent globally because, frankly speaking, the UAE, starting with Dubai, has been a ball of attraction, and has a very flexible visa framework.

 

Q: Do you need a physical presence in the RAK Digital free zone to operate in the free zone? 

 

A: So you don’t necessarily need to spend all your time in RAK. You would expect that any founder and their team would be moving around. But the idea of RAK Digital Oasis is to create a center of convergence. The reality is that where you see the biggest leapfrog in innovation and execution is typically when people come together.

 

We have offices in RAK with all the infrastructure around them. 

 

Reasons why you should consider joining RAK DAO

 

Q: What are the key things for founders to consider when incorporating and deciding where to domicile their organizations?

 

A: Founders have different interests. I mentioned a general theme around this flexibility about getting talent worldwide. 

 

You also have the UAE’s geographical position. Unless you are focused on the US, the UAE puts you in the center of the world, midway between Europe and Asia. 

 

Now, depending on which region you’re currently operating from, you have additional incentives. So I give you an example.

 

One of the challenges developers face in mainland China is operating in the blockchain space, which can be challenging and risky. Although blockchain has widely developed acceptance in China, as soon as there is a perception that you’re operating in the crypto space, that can be an issue. Certain developers feel that it’s a personal constraint. The value proposition is to be based in the UAE and to develop your business. 

 

If you are based in Europe, for instance, in the UK or France, and have an income tax rate of 45% (in the UK), you would save 40 to 45% of your income.

 

The corporate tax rate is also very attractive. 

 

We are also very close to sources of capital. There is a lot of wealth onshore, and many investors are also passing through. 

 

The UAE also has a very friendly environment when it comes to regulation for the blockchain and digital asset space. Suppose you compare the level of regulation in Europe, the US, and the Middle East. In that case, you will see that the Middle East also typically ranks high in terms of the segments of the space that are already regulated, from tokenization to stablecoins.

 

Q: What are the requirements for getting incorporated on the RAK DAO? 

 

A: There are no specific requirements. If you operate in the blockchain or digital asset space and you’re looking for a place to get incorporated, licensed, access talent, and have a close relationship with founders, this is the place to be.

 

Q: How do those capital allocators view the RAK DAO legal framework? Is it well-respected? Is it something they regard as safe? 

 

A: It’s not just about being respected and appreciated; it’s also about identifying that RAK Digital Asset is putting in place licenses that didn’t exist before. For instance, the first license was for noncustodial wallet and AI agent developers.

 

We launched a license specifically tailored for NFT creators. End of last year, we launched a legal wrapper for DAOs. 

 

The licenses are not easy to implement or manage, but they are where you gain the respect of investors and founders because they showcase that we listen to their problems. 

 

The licensing is just an entry point. An entry point is like buying a new ticket to an entertainment park, right? You just buy the ticket, but the interesting part is not the ticket—it’s the entertainment park.

 

What we put around you is this ecosystem that can continue to help you grow. If you need someone to help you manage your treasury, tick. If you need legal advice to settle a certain aspect, tick.

 

Q: Let’s go more in-depth about some of those service providers people can access. How exactly does that work? 

 

A: Let me break this down into two parts. The first one is the access that you would get to a partner, and the second part is to look beyond the partner.

 

Starting with the partner, we have three different phases. You have the support you get from any other free zone, where we will connect you with a tech advisor or someone who helps you with your relocation. So I would call them general partners. Everybody can do that. It’s not particularly interesting, but we’ll provide you with that.

 

The second type of partner is technology partners. We have about 60 of them, and they can be layer one partners. They provide you with access to an infrastructure where you can develop your dApp and facilitate your access to grants. It could be a company or a consultant who will help you design your tokenomics or write your white paper. So, those services are very specific to the Web3 space. 

 

The third category of partner that we are establishing is capital facilitation. The idea is to facilitate access to at least a tier of our company that can collaborate with us on various VCs, family offices, and other capital. So, those are three different categories of partners. 

 

Now, the second category bucket I wanted to highlight is that, in addition to all these partners, you also have access to two different things.

 

First, over the past eighteen months, we incorporated about 550 companies, all operating in the Web3 digital asset space. This gives us the opportunity for companies within our portfolio to collaborate. Ideally, they can develop a collaborative solution that showcases how working together can solve a concrete problem.

 

Talking about concrete solutions, the other point that is also attractive for companies joining the RAK Digital Asset Oasis is that we represent an emirate.

 

RAK is an emirate with a portfolio of industries. You might not have heard about them, but RAK Ceramic used to be the largest ceramic producer in the world. We have port activities, tourism, gaming, renewable energy, and the wind casino, which will open in 2027

 

We have many municipalities. As you can imagine, all of these industries have their pain points. We can work with all of them and establish a problem statement. When the problem statement is established, we can also open it to a company within RAK Digital Asset Oasis to incorporate it with them, to say, “Hey, if you have a solution to solve this problem, we will put you in touch.” And for many companies, especially younger ones, that’s a very attractive proposition.

 

Once you have showcased this in Ras Al Khaimah, RAK, you can show it to the rest of the world. As you can imagine, this has a snowball effect because suddenly, you can show the world that there is a product-market fit. 

 

Q: What are the benefits of having a common law system, and how does it operate? Common law is about case history; free zones have only been around for the last few years.

 

A: There are two elements to that. The first advantage is that it provides companies and investors with the comfort that they’re operating in a legal system that they understand, so they won’t get stuck with a small court in a country they are unfamiliar with. 

 

The second part is about expertise. We have MOUs with internationally recognized courts like IFC, which can give the company that we onboard comfort that they will be in an environment where they feel comfortable operating in case of a dispute or conflict. 

 

How to join RAK DAO

Q: How does one go about incorporating a company at RAK DAO? What are the steps to follow? What does the process look like?

 

A: It can happen in different ways. Some people will just grab my Telegram handle. I will put them in touch with someone within my team who can handle and assist them. Identify what type of activity is more suitable for them, what type of license, and what type of packages are more interesting.

 

We can also facilitate the arrangement of a visa in certain situations. 

 

You can access our website. It’s a global service in the sense that we have a team big enough to handle companies that want to onboard with us. 

 

Q: Is there anything we haven’t covered that you want to chat about? 

 

A: RAK Digital Asset Oasis is a licensing authority and a growth platform, a bit like an incubator. This year, we launched accelerators to help companies expose their businesses to the world and gain exposure to investors. 

 

We just launched the first accelerator with XDC. We have three more in the pipeline, at least until the third quarter of this year. That will also be another opportunity to get a sense of what this free zone or licensing authority can deliver.

 

Q: Do you do that in-house, or do you have partners you work with? 

 

A: We are working with partners at the moment. We’ll likely launch our accelerator by the end of the year or next year. At the moment, it’s not our area of expertise. We prefer collaborating with others who have been doing this for a while. What we propose is all the infrastructure that we can provide.

 

We also offer working spaces and facilitate access to licensing. 

 

Opinion on current market conditions

 

Q: I’m curious to hear your thoughts on the market conditions. How is the future looking, and where are we? How is something like RAK DAO contributing to the general growth and health of the crypto ecosystem and, hopefully, one day decoupling it from the stock market, with which I don’t personally see the correlation?

 

A: Two things. I will start with the less exciting one and then move to something slightly more positive. It’s striking that we are all here at Paris Blockchain Week, giving our best, collaborating as much as possible, and finding ways to launch new products together. But there is a big elephant in the room. With the disruption that we see in capital markets, with the drop in prices, it’s very clear that it will be a longer journey than we expected, especially if you’re at a stage where you’re ready to launch your token or you want to raise capital.

 

We’re already seeing a lot of investors pulling back and saying, “Okay, let me wait and see.” And that’s very unfortunate. And at a personal level, it’s also pretty sad.

 

I was very excited about 2025. It’s still a rough patch. We’re past 2021, and we’ve already gone through quite a rough patch. It’s sad that we are faced with this reality.

 

On the more positive side, I like your point about decoupling because I put my money where my mouth is by relocating from Hong Kong to the UAE. 

 

There is still a lot of appetite to push the agenda when it comes to regulation, which could create a decoupling. Because the US was shut down, the UAE might have an opportunity to continue the momentum while other regions struggle. 

 

It’s nice that you see some evolution on the regulatory side in the US. It’s become less dangerous to operate in this space. The fact is, capital is going to capital allocators, who will be much more attentive to what they’re doing.

 

As the global blockchain ecosystem matures, entrepreneurs are increasingly seeking jurisdictions that balance innovation with infrastructure, and few places are doing this as purposefully as RAK Digital Asset Oasis (RAK DAO) in the United Arab Emirates. 

 

Today, we revisit an interview with RAK DAO’s Chief Commercial Officer Luc Froehlich, held at the iconic Carrousel du Louvre during the 6th edition of the Paris Blockchain Week.

 

Background

 

Q: It would be great if you start telling us a bit about yourself, your background, and how you ended up at RAK DAO?

 

A: I am the Chief Commercial Officer of RAK Digital Asset Oasis (RAK DAO), a licensing authority under the government of Ras Al Khaimah—the RAK in RAK DAO.

 

Ras Al Khaimah is one of the seven Emirates in the UAE. We are a licensing authority enabling companies operating in the blockchain and digital asset space to grow their business. 

 

We incorporate companies and provide them access to traditional partners who help with services like opening a bank account, accessing a law firm, or obtaining a tax adviser. We also connect them with specialized partners who can help with services like writing whitepapers or designing a governance framework.

 

Q: How and why was RAK DAO started?

 

A: The ruler of Ras Al Khaimah proposed establishing RAK as a global hub for blockchain and digital asset technology.

 

It’s not in competition with the established regulators that people know in the UAE, like VARA and ADGM, in the sense that RAK DAO focuses on non-regulated activities. So we would not onboard companies that are running an exchange, in the payment system, or custody assets. Our focus is on companies operating blockchain technology. The spectrum of companies that we focus on is broad, from gaming to payments. We also have a license for AI agent developers.

 

Free zones in the UAE

Q: What is a free zone, and what benefits does it offer founders? 

 

A: This concept is specific to the UAE. You can think of a free zone as an economic zone—areas that can regulate themselves but respect the federal government’s overarching set of rules, including the rules set by the UAE central bank and ESCA. But within those specific zones, you can establish rules that are typically tailored for specific industries.

 

There are 50+ different zones. Some are focused on motorsports, the media industry, or port activities. As you can guess, the RAK Digital Asset Oasis is in the digital asset space.

 

You can establish your company there and control 100% of it. There are tax advantages, such as a zero income tax rate.

 

You also have the flexibility to attract talent globally because, frankly speaking, the UAE, starting with Dubai, has been a ball of attraction, and has a very flexible visa framework.

 

Q: Do you need a physical presence in the RAK Digital free zone to operate in the free zone? 

 

A: So you don’t necessarily need to spend all your time in RAK. You would expect that any founder and their team would be moving around. But the idea of RAK Digital Oasis is to create a center of convergence. The reality is that where you see the biggest leapfrog in innovation and execution is typically when people come together.

 

We have offices in RAK with all the infrastructure around them. 

 

Reasons why you should consider joining RAK DAO

 

Q: What are the key things for founders to consider when incorporating and deciding where to domicile their organizations?

 

A: Founders have different interests. I mentioned a general theme around this flexibility about getting talent worldwide. 

 

You also have the UAE’s geographical position. Unless you are focused on the US, the UAE puts you in the center of the world, midway between Europe and Asia. 

 

Now, depending on which region you’re currently operating from, you have additional incentives. So I give you an example.

 

One of the challenges developers face in mainland China is operating in the blockchain space, which can be challenging and risky. Although blockchain has widely developed acceptance in China, as soon as there is a perception that you’re operating in the crypto space, that can be an issue. Certain developers feel that it’s a personal constraint. The value proposition is to be based in the UAE and to develop your business. 

 

If you are based in Europe, for instance, in the UK or France, and have an income tax rate of 45% (in the UK), you would save 40 to 45% of your income.

 

The corporate tax rate is also very attractive. 

 

We are also very close to sources of capital. There is a lot of wealth onshore, and many investors are also passing through. 

 

The UAE also has a very friendly environment when it comes to regulation for the blockchain and digital asset space. Suppose you compare the level of regulation in Europe, the US, and the Middle East. In that case, you will see that the Middle East also typically ranks high in terms of the segments of the space that are already regulated, from tokenization to stablecoins.

 

Q: What are the requirements for getting incorporated on the RAK DAO? 

 

A: There are no specific requirements. If you operate in the blockchain or digital asset space and you’re looking for a place to get incorporated, licensed, access talent, and have a close relationship with founders, this is the place to be.

 

Q: How do those capital allocators view the RAK DAO legal framework? Is it well-respected? Is it something they regard as safe? 

 

A: It’s not just about being respected and appreciated; it’s also about identifying that RAK Digital Asset is putting in place licenses that didn’t exist before. For instance, the first license was for noncustodial wallet and AI agent developers.

 

We launched a license specifically tailored for NFT creators. End of last year, we launched a legal wrapper for DAOs. 

 

The licenses are not easy to implement or manage, but they are where you gain the respect of investors and founders because they showcase that we listen to their problems. 

 

The licensing is just an entry point. An entry point is like buying a new ticket to an entertainment park, right? You just buy the ticket, but the interesting part is not the ticket—it’s the entertainment park.

 

What we put around you is this ecosystem that can continue to help you grow. If you need someone to help you manage your treasury, tick. If you need legal advice to settle a certain aspect, tick.

 

Q: Let’s go more in-depth about some of those service providers people can access. How exactly does that work? 

 

A: Let me break this down into two parts. The first one is the access that you would get to a partner, and the second part is to look beyond the partner.

 

Starting with the partner, we have three different phases. You have the support you get from any other free zone, where we will connect you with a tech advisor or someone who helps you with your relocation. So I would call them general partners. Everybody can do that. It’s not particularly interesting, but we’ll provide you with that.

 

The second type of partner is technology partners. We have about 60 of them, and they can be layer one partners. They provide you with access to an infrastructure where you can develop your dApp and facilitate your access to grants. It could be a company or a consultant who will help you design your tokenomics or write your white paper. So, those services are very specific to the Web3 space. 

 

The third category of partner that we are establishing is capital facilitation. The idea is to facilitate access to at least a tier of our company that can collaborate with us on various VCs, family offices, and other capital. So, those are three different categories of partners. 

 

Now, the second category bucket I wanted to highlight is that, in addition to all these partners, you also have access to two different things.

 

First, over the past eighteen months, we incorporated about 550 companies, all operating in the Web3 digital asset space. This gives us the opportunity for companies within our portfolio to collaborate. Ideally, they can develop a collaborative solution that showcases how working together can solve a concrete problem.

 

Talking about concrete solutions, the other point that is also attractive for companies joining the RAK Digital Asset Oasis is that we represent an emirate.

 

RAK is an emirate with a portfolio of industries. You might not have heard about them, but RAK Ceramic used to be the largest ceramic producer in the world. We have port activities, tourism, gaming, renewable energy, and the wind casino, which will open in 2027

 

We have many municipalities. As you can imagine, all of these industries have their pain points. We can work with all of them and establish a problem statement. When the problem statement is established, we can also open it to a company within RAK Digital Asset Oasis to incorporate it with them, to say, “Hey, if you have a solution to solve this problem, we will put you in touch.” And for many companies, especially younger ones, that’s a very attractive proposition.

 

Once you have showcased this in Ras Al Khaimah, RAK, you can show it to the rest of the world. As you can imagine, this has a snowball effect because suddenly, you can show the world that there is a product-market fit. 

 

Q: What are the benefits of having a common law system, and how does it operate? Common law is about case history; free zones have only been around for the last few years.

 

A: There are two elements to that. The first advantage is that it provides companies and investors with the comfort that they’re operating in a legal system that they understand, so they won’t get stuck with a small court in a country they are unfamiliar with. 

 

The second part is about expertise. We have MOUs with internationally recognized courts like IFC, which can give the company that we onboard comfort that they will be in an environment where they feel comfortable operating in case of a dispute or conflict. 

 

How to join RAK DAO

Q: How does one go about incorporating a company at RAK DAO? What are the steps to follow? What does the process look like?

 

A: It can happen in different ways. Some people will just grab my Telegram handle. I will put them in touch with someone within my team who can handle and assist them. Identify what type of activity is more suitable for them, what type of license, and what type of packages are more interesting.

 

We can also facilitate the arrangement of a visa in certain situations. 

 

You can access our website. It’s a global service in the sense that we have a team big enough to handle companies that want to onboard with us. 

 

Q: Is there anything we haven’t covered that you want to chat about? 

 

A: RAK Digital Asset Oasis is a licensing authority and a growth platform, a bit like an incubator. This year, we launched accelerators to help companies expose their businesses to the world and gain exposure to investors. 

 

We just launched the first accelerator with XDC. We have three more in the pipeline, at least until the third quarter of this year. That will also be another opportunity to get a sense of what this free zone or licensing authority can deliver.

 

Q: Do you do that in-house, or do you have partners you work with? 

 

A: We are working with partners at the moment. We’ll likely launch our accelerator by the end of the year or next year. At the moment, it’s not our area of expertise. We prefer collaborating with others who have been doing this for a while. What we propose is all the infrastructure that we can provide.

 

We also offer working spaces and facilitate access to licensing. 

 

Opinion on current market conditions

 

Q: I’m curious to hear your thoughts on the market conditions. How is the future looking, and where are we? How is something like RAK DAO contributing to the general growth and health of the crypto ecosystem and, hopefully, one day decoupling it from the stock market, with which I don’t personally see the correlation?

 

A: Two things. I will start with the less exciting one and then move to something slightly more positive. It’s striking that we are all here at Paris Blockchain Week, giving our best, collaborating as much as possible, and finding ways to launch new products together. But there is a big elephant in the room. With the disruption that we see in capital markets, with the drop in prices, it’s very clear that it will be a longer journey than we expected, especially if you’re at a stage where you’re ready to launch your token or you want to raise capital.

 

We’re already seeing a lot of investors pulling back and saying, “Okay, let me wait and see.” And that’s very unfortunate. And at a personal level, it’s also pretty sad.

 

I was very excited about 2025. It’s still a rough patch. We’re past 2021, and we’ve already gone through quite a rough patch. It’s sad that we are faced with this reality.

 

On the more positive side, I like your point about decoupling because I put my money where my mouth is by relocating from Hong Kong to the UAE. 

 

There is still a lot of appetite to push the agenda when it comes to regulation, which could create a decoupling. Because the US was shut down, the UAE might have an opportunity to continue the momentum while other regions struggle. 

 

It’s nice that you see some evolution on the regulatory side in the US. It’s become less dangerous to operate in this space. The fact is, capital is going to capital allocators, who will be much more attentive to what they’re doing.