According to Chainalysis, the Middle East accounts for 7% of the trading volume for the global crypto market. The firm has also found that Turkey, Lebanon, and the UAE are the top three crypto markets in the region. Earlier this year, the world’s biggest crypto exchange Binance entered the UAE, where cryptocurrency worth $25 billion changes hands every year.

Following the Middle East’s blockchain boom, the region’s top retail and leisure firm Majid Al Futtaim Group has joined hands with Binance. The partnership will facilitate the listing of NFTs on Binance’s marketplace and provide an e-wallet for consumers to store digital assets from multiple platforms, and buy products using virtual assets via Binance Pay at Majid Al Futtaim Group’s malls and retail stores.

The vision behind the collaboration is to provide a Web3 technologies experience for consumers. Binance Pay provides borderless and secure user-to-user transactions through a smartphone app. It allows consumers and merchants to pay using cryptocurrencies across the globe without paying any special handling fees.

“The exponential rate of technology development today is matched only by consumers’ voracious appetite for exceptional customer experiences in both the physical and digital world. We are delighted to be partnering with global Web3 leader, Binance on the new frontiers of customer engagement and experience and look forward to working in tandem to evolve the third generation of web technology, develop strong capabilities and deliver innovation and world-class omnichannel experiences to our customers,” said Alain Bejjani, CEO at Majid Al Futtaim, in a statement.

Consumers will also get to use Binance NFT uses an algorithm called Proof of Staked Authority PoSA, which facilitates fast transactions. It has also been more energy-efficient and eco-friendly than the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Binance has also described the Majid Al Futtaim Group as a trailblazer bridging the gap between the physical world and web3 services.