Finvasia Group is accelerating its push to reshape the future of global finance after its platforms Dealing.com and Blockmaze achieved two major Guinness World Records milestones, highlighting the growing potential of regulated blockchain-based financial markets.

Dealing.com was awarded the Guinness World Records title for the “Most Tokenised Stocks Available for Trading on a Single Platform”, after an independent verification process confirmed more than 24,000 tokenised stocks available to investors.

At the same time, Blockmaze secured recognition for achieving the “Most Financial Regulatory Licences at a Blockchain Ecosystem Launch”, establishing what the company describes as one of the most regulated blockchain ecosystems designed for tokenised assets.

The achievements highlight Finvasia’s broader strategy of bringing traditional financial assets onto blockchain infrastructure while ensuring compliance, transparency and investor protection remain central to adoption.

Read more-Finvasia CEO Tajinder Virk on why investing platforms are due for a reset

The milestones were recognised in Dubai, with senior government officials, Guinness World Records representatives, investors, industry leaders and members of the global media attending the ceremonies.

The developments also reinforce the UAE’s growing position as a global centre for blockchain innovation, digital assets and real-world asset (RWA) tokenisation.

Dealing.com brings thousands of global stocks onto a single platform

The Dealing.com Guinness World Records achievement marks a major development in the evolution of digital investing.

Traditionally, investors seeking exposure to international equities have had to navigate multiple financial systems. This often includes opening accounts with foreign brokers, managing different currencies, connecting with local banking providers, working with custodians and complying with separate regulatory requirements.

Finvasia believes tokenisation can simplify this process by allowing real-world assets to be represented digitally while preserving the underlying economic rights attached to those assets.

Tajinder Virk, co-founder and CEO of Finvasia Group and Dealing, said the difference between synthetic assets and true asset-backed tokenisation is critical.

“When an investor wants to invest in a specific stock, what does he have to do? He has to have an account with a broker in that country. Then he needs access to a bank account, transfer money in that country’s currency, have a custodian there, and so on,” Virk said.

“When we tokenise an asset, there are two ways to tokenise a stock. One is by creating a synthetic representation of the stock. The other is by tokenising the actual underlying stock, where the token truly represents the underlying asset.”

He said true tokenisation means the digital representation is connected to the actual asset, allowing investors to benefit from shareholder rights and corporate actions.

“That means any dividends, voting rights, shareholder benefits, mergers, acquisitions, or any other corporate actions are reflected in the token,” Virk said.

“It is not cash-settled, it represents the actual underlying stock.”

According to Finvasia, Dealing.com now provides investors access to more than 70,000 investment opportunities across more than 15 global markets through a single account.

The platform includes traditional financial instruments such as stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), currencies, commodities, crypto and indices, alongside thousands of tokenised stocks and tokenised ETFs.

A new model for global market access

Virk said the technology behind tokenisation has the potential to remove significant friction from the existing financial system.

Creating such an ecosystem requires connecting multiple components of traditional finance, including banks, exchanges, custodians, clearing systems and regulatory frameworks across different jurisdictions.

“The user simply presses the Buy or Sell button, while everything else happens seamlessly in the background on the blockchain in a transparent manner, and settlement happens almost instantly,” Virk said.

“That is where we believe this is revolutionary because it not only brings nearly 70 per cent of the world’s stocks onto a single platform for tokenized trading, but it also redefines how the industry is going to operate.”

The company believes blockchain-based settlement could significantly reduce transaction timelines.

“Will there be the same need for stock exchanges in the future? Will there be the same need for the traditional ecosystem built around exchanges, clearing members, custodians, brokers, technology providers, and all the other intermediaries that were designed in the 1930s, when today we’re in 2025–26?” Virk said.

“That whole industry is going to change significantly because what we’ve shown the world today is that 70 per cent of the world’s stocks can be tokenized on a single blockchain and transacted on a single blockchain.”

“If the traditional settlement cycle of 48 hours can be reduced to just six seconds, that’s industry-changing.”

Blockmaze focuses on compliance-driven blockchain adoption

While blockchain technology has attracted significant attention from investors and financial institutions, Finvasia believes regulation will determine whether tokenised assets achieve mainstream adoption.

Blockmaze’s Guinness World Records recognition reflects the company’s focus on building regulated infrastructure that enables institutions to participate in tokenisation without having to create complex compliance systems from the ground up.

Tajinder Virk said regulatory readiness is essential for the next phase of blockchain adoption.

“There is no other way to do tokenization unless you have the necessary licenses across different jurisdictions,” he said.

“It takes years to build an ecosystem with so many regulations and licenses while dealing with all the compliance requirements and walking that very thin line to ensure you’re always compliant.”

Blockmaze provides infrastructure connecting licensing, compliance, custody, payments and market access, allowing institutions and financial platforms to develop tokenised products more efficiently.

“For any institution that’s looking to tokenise assets, if they are legitimate and licensed, they can come to Blockmaze and leverage this entire ecosystem and infrastructure,” Virk said.

“It connects them to banking, payments, stock markets, regulatory frameworks, SCA regulations, and other compliance requirements around the world.”

He added that the platform allows businesses to focus on innovation rather than building every component internally.

“Instead of building everything from scratch, they can build on top of our infrastructure, go to market much faster, and do so in a compliant and regulated manner while ensuring that investors are also protected,” Virk said.

Why regulation will define the future of tokenised assets

Finvasia believes the biggest opportunity for blockchain lies not only in technology but also in creating trust among investors and institutions.

Virk highlighted the difference between the size of the cryptocurrency market and the broader global financial ecosystem.

“If you look at the world today, the total market capitalisation of the crypto industry is only about $3tn, compared to global assets under management of roughly $600tn,” he said.

“Crypto still represents less than 1 per cent of the world’s total assets under management.”

According to Virk, limited regulatory clarity has been one of the biggest barriers preventing institutional participation.

“The most talked-about asset class has still not grown beyond a tiny fraction of global AUM because there wasn’t enough regulatory clarity or compliance to protect investors,” he said.

“Institutional capital wasn’t able to enter the market at scale, and global adoption in a compliant manner couldn’t really happen.”

He believes regulation and technology must advance together.

“Unless you make something compliant, you cannot achieve mass adoption,” Virk said.

“That’s why regulation is just as important as technology. It creates trust, enables institutional participation, protects investors, and ultimately drives large-scale adoption.”

Global recognition for Blockmaze’s regulated ecosystem

Blockmaze’s Guinness World Records achievement was awarded after a review of its regulatory credentials and ecosystem structure.

The recognition was presented to Tajinder Virk, co-founder and CEO of Finvasia Group and Blockmaze; Sarvjeet Virk, co-founder and MD of Finvasia Group; and Puneet Mangla, co-founder and COO of Blockmaze.

Blockmaze said its ecosystem brings together the key elements required for regulated tokenisation, including asset issuance, custody, liquidity, payments and compliance.

Puneet Mangla said the recognition represents years of work focused on building institutional-grade blockchain infrastructure.

“The Guinness World Records title is a testament to our shared vision and to our teams’ years of dedication, perseverance and commitment to building one of the world’s most trusted blockchain ecosystems,” Mangla said.

“This achievement is more than a milestone for Blockmaze. It reflects the direction in which the industry is heading.”

He added that trust will be central to the next stage of digital finance.

“The future of tokenised finance will be led by platforms that combine innovation with trust, institutional-grade infrastructure and global compliance,” Mangla said.

“We believe this achievement will strengthen confidence in global tokenisation, encourage greater cross-border investment, and support the next phase of global digital financial markets.”

UAE strengthens position as tokenisation hub

The Guinness World Records achievements come as the UAE continues to position itself as a leading destination for blockchain and digital asset innovation.

Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, welcomed Blockmaze’s recognition, saying the milestone reinforces the UAE’s position as a global hub for blockchain, tokenisation and Web3 innovation.

Guinness World Records official adjudicator Mbali Nkosi said the recognitions followed strict verification processes.

“For this record, our team examined the platform data, the documentation, and the regulatory filings against the official record criteria,” Nkosi said.

“Every tokenised stock counted had to be live, active, and publicly available for trading at the time of the attempt.”

She added that Blockmaze achieved a new benchmark for regulated blockchain ecosystems.

“Following a review of available evidence and comparison against existing benchmarks, we found that this was the highest number of qualifying regulator-issued financial licences held by a blockchain ecosystem at launch,” Nkosi said.

As global financial markets continue moving towards digital infrastructure, Finvasia believes tokenisation will become a defining force in expanding access to investment opportunities.

The company’s message is that the next generation of finance will not be built simply around faster technology, but around trusted, compliant and globally accessible financial systems.

Keeta, the on-demand food delivery platform backed by global technology company Meituan, has partnered with Empire Entertainment to launch a UAE-wide promotional campaign inspired by Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man: Brand New Day, ahead of the film’s cinema release on July 30.

Built around the theme “Delivering A Brand New Day,” the campaign combines entertainment with customer engagement through a series of interactive experiences designed to extend the brand beyond its core food delivery offering.

Running throughout the promotional period, customers will be able to participate in in-app challenges, unlock exclusive rewards and enter competitions for cinema experiences inspired by the latest Spider-Man film.

The campaign will also include immersive pop-up activations at shopping malls across the UAE, offering visitors interactive games, themed experiences and exclusive prizes aimed at families, movie enthusiasts and Keeta customers.

The collaboration reflects Keeta’s strategy of strengthening customer engagement through partnerships with global entertainment brands while creating experiences that go beyond everyday delivery services.

As Spider-Man: Brand New Day arrives in cinemas on July 30, the campaign aims to connect customers with the film through a mix of digital and physical activations, reinforcing Keeta’s positioning in the UAE’s competitive food delivery market.

Record inflows of millionaires, family offices and global asset managers have turned the UAE into one of the world’s fastest-growing wealth hubs, and one of its most contested, as Singapore, Switzerland and Hong Kong compete for the same capital. Michel Longhini, the newly appointed CEO of Emirates Investment Bank (EIB), argues that what clients now want is not scale, but independence.

Longhini brings more than 35 years in private banking and wealth management across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. He joins EIB from First Abu Dhabi Bank, where he was group head of global private banking and sat on the bank’s executive committee. Before moving to the UAE, he spent more than a decade at the top of Geneva’s private banking establishment, as CEO of private banking at Edmond de Rothschild and, before that, at Union Bancaire Privée, following a long career at BNP Paribas that included leading its international wealth management and Asian private banking businesses.

In this conversation with Gulf Business, he explains why he chose a UAE-rooted independent bank over a global institution, how a younger and more entrepreneurial client is reshaping what a private bank must deliver, and where technology should stop. The human adviser begins, and why the transfer of wealth to the next generation may be the most structural shift facing the Gulf.

You’ve been in senior roles at First Abu Dhabi Bank, Edmond de Rothschild, Union Bancaire Privée and BNP Paribas before joining EIB. What drew you to an independent UAE private bank at this point in your career, and what does that choice say about where you see the industry heading?

After more than three decades working across private banking and wealth management in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, I was attracted by the opportunity to help shape an institution in its entirety and build something distinctive for the next generation of clients.

Emirates Investment Bank occupies a rare position. It is a UAE-rooted, independent, onshore private bank with a strong heritage, but also has the agility and ambition to evolve quickly. It combines the discipline and rigour associated with Swiss private banking with a deep understanding of this market and the families, entrepreneurs and businesses that have helped build it.

My decision also reflects where I believe the industry is heading. Clients still expect global capabilities, institutional-quality investment advice and robust risk management. Still, they increasingly value independence, direct access to decision-makers and advice that is not driven by the scale or product priorities of a large institution.

UAE has emerged as one of the world’s fastest-growing wealth hubs, attracting record inflows of millionaires, family offices and global asset managers. From your vantage point, what’s driving that momentum, and how sustainable is it as competition from other financial centres intensifies?

The UAE’s momentum is not the result of one policy or one economic cycle. Instead, it’s the combination of long-term economic diversification, global connectivity, an attractive environment for entrepreneurs and investors, and a clear commitment to making the country a place where people can build businesses, raise families and deploy capital over the long term.

We’re not only seeing wealth booked or managed here, but wealth creators are also moving their lives, businesses, investment teams and family offices to the UAE. That creates a much deeper and more sustainable ecosystem, supported by expanding capital markets, increasingly sophisticated regulation and a growing concentration of global financial expertise.

Competition from Singapore, Switzerland, Hong Kong and other centres will always remain intense, and that’s healthy. No financial hub can afford to rely solely on favourable taxation, lifestyle or historic inflows. Long-term competitiveness will depend on regulatory credibility, access to investment opportunities, talent, infrastructure and the ability to protect and serve increasingly complex international wealth.

The UAE has built strong foundations in each of these areas. Its challenge now is to continue raising standards as rapidly as the market is growing.

How is the UAE’s private banking landscape evolving, and where do the biggest opportunities lie over the next three to five years?

The UAE is evolving from an important regional banking centre into a comprehensive global wealth ecosystem. The conversation is no longer simply about managing a liquid investment portfolio. More and more clients are looking for support across their personal wealth, businesses, family structures, financing requirements, succession plans and international interests.

One of the biggest opportunities will be serving entrepreneurs and business-owning families as they professionalise the management of their wealth. This includes preparing for liquidity events, separating family and corporate assets, establishing governance structures and supporting the transfer of responsibility to the next generation.

There is also significant potential in private markets and alternative investments. Clients are looking beyond traditional listed equities and bonds, but access alone is not enough. They need rigorous selection, appropriate diversification, disciplined pacing and a clear understanding of liquidity and risk.

A third opportunity is cross-border complexity. Many clients have family members, businesses, residences and investments across several jurisdictions. The private bank increasingly needs to act as an orchestrator, coordinating with legal, tax and corporate, among others.

Over the next few years, the strongest private banks will be those that combine local judgement, global investment access, modern technology and institutional-grade controls without losing the personal relationship at the centre of the proposition.

The profile of the high-net-worth client is changing: younger, more global, more entrepreneurial, and often managing wealth across multiple jurisdictions and asset classes, from private markets to digital assets. How are their expectations reshaping what a private bank must deliver?

The next generation of high-net-worth clients is highly informed and comfortable in challenging traditional ways of doing things. They expect speed, transparency and access, but they also want sophisticated advice and a partner who understands the full context behind their wealth.

Many are entrepreneurs, so they do not necessarily divide their financial lives neatly between personal wealth, corporate interests and investment portfolios. They may hold operating companies, private equity investments, real estate and digital assets across several jurisdictions. So, a private bank must provide a much more holistic view and be able to coordinate across investments, financing, liquidity, succession and corporate advisory requirements.

They also expect greater transparency around performance, risk, costs and the rationale behind investment decisions. They want access to differentiated opportunities, particularly in private markets, but they do not want complexity.

Digital assets are another example of how expectations are changing. Clients increasingly expect their adviser to understand the asset class, even where the appropriate recommendation may be caution or limited exposure. A private bank’s role is not to follow every trend, but to help clients distinguish between innovation and speculation.

Every wealth manager is now investing heavily in digital capabilities, yet private banking has always been a relationship business at its core. How do you strike the balance between personalised advisory and digital innovation, and where should technology stop and the human adviser begin?

Technology should remove friction, improve transparency and give both clients and advisers better information. It should not attempt to automate trust.

Clients should be able to obtain a clear and timely view of their portfolios, access documents securely, communicate efficiently with the bank and complete routine instructions without unnecessary delays. Advisers should be supported by better data, portfolio analytics and risk tools, allowing them to spend more time understanding clients and providing advice rather than managing administrative processes.

The human adviser becomes even more important when circumstances are complex or uncertain. Technology can identify patterns and model potential outcomes, but it cannot fully understand a family’s dynamics, an entrepreneur’s emotional relationship with a business or the trade-offs behind a major life decision. It also cannot replace personal accountability when markets are volatile, and clients need clear judgement rather than another stream of data.

Global banking has weathered considerable turbulence in recent years: rate volatility, geopolitical fragmentation and episodes of stress in mature markets. How resilient is the UAE’s banking sector by comparison, and what underpins that strength?

The UAE banking sector has entered this period of global uncertainty from a position of considerable strength. Banks are generally well capitalised and liquid, regulation has become increasingly proactive, and the sector benefits from a growing and diversified economy, strong deposit growth and clear institutional support.

The latest Central Bank figures show banking-sector assets reaching Dhs5.4tn in 2025 (according to CBUAE’s 2025 annual report), with capital adequacy remaining above regulatory thresholds and stress testing demonstrating the sector’s capacity to withstand significant risks. That is important, but resilience is not only measured by balance-sheet ratios. It also comes from the quality of supervision, disciplined risk management and the ability of the authorities and financial institutions to respond quickly as conditions change

In a market dominated by large local institutions and international giants, you argue that independent private banks have an increasingly important role to play. What can a boutique, independent model offer clients that the big balance-sheet players cannot?

Large institutions have important strengths, including scale, broad international networks and substantial balance sheets. An independent private bank should not try to replicate those institutions. It should offer something meaningfully different.

Independence gives us the ability to begin with the client rather than with a distribution target or a predetermined product shelf. We can take a more open and flexible approach to identifying solutions, whether they are created internally or sourced from specialist partners around the world.

A focused model also creates greater proximity between clients, relationship managers, investment specialists and senior decision-makers. That can result in quicker decisions, greater continuity and a higher level of personal accountability. Clients know who is responsible for their relationship and can speak directly to the people making decisions on their behalf.

At Emirates Investment Bank, we also combine that boutique approach with the capabilities and regulatory foundations of an onshore bank. Clients can access investment management, global markets, corporate finance advice and everyday banking within a highly personalised environment.

Trends such as the great wealth transfer to the next generation, the rise of sustainable and Sharia-compliant investing, and growing appetite for private markets are reshaping portfolios globally. Which of these do you see defining wealth management in the Gulf?

All three will be important, but the transfer of wealth and responsibility to the next generation is arguably the most structural change facing the Gulf.

This is not simply a transfer of financial assets. It is a transition involving family businesses, governance, leadership, values and identity. The next generation may have different views on risk, sustainability, technology and geographic diversification. Banks must therefore be able to engage the whole family, facilitate difficult conversations and support governance and education as well as portfolio management.

Private markets will also become a more established component of portfolios. Many Gulf clients are entrepreneurs and are naturally comfortable with direct ownership and less liquid investments. The opportunity is significant, but allocations must be approached with discipline, particularly around manager selection, diversification, valuation and liquidity planning.

Ultimately, while the trends may evolve, the need for trusted advice remains constant. As the UAE’s trusted private bank, we are well positioned to help clients navigate change with personalised guidance, disciplined investment expertise and bespoke wealth solutions.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday the United States is still willing to negotiate an end to the Iran crisis but Tehran is not serious about talks, as the widening conflict disrupted two of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints.

Rubio made his comments in a meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers a day after three oil tankers carrying Saudi crude to Asia reversed course in the Red Sea, apparently in response to threats from Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis.

The Houthis, who control the coast at the mouth of the Red Sea, announced a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia on Monday, opening a potential new front in the war which has killed thousands of people across the Gulf since it began on February 28 with US and Israeli attacks on Iran.

With Iran already threatening shipping through the Strait of Hormuz leading out of the Gulf, the Red Sea has served as the main alternate route out for millions of barrels of Saudi oil per day.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday that Tehran had received a proposal from mediators for a 10-day ceasefire in efforts to salvage the interim ceasefire agreement signed by the US and Iran in June, which replaced an earlier April ceasefire.

In another sign that diplomacy remains alive, Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni has visited mediator Pakistan and asked Islamabad to continue its efforts.

Rubio said Washington was “always committed to diplomacy” but doubted whether Tehran was equally committed to negotiations.

“The problem we’re having right now is that they’re not serious about talks. If they’re serious, we’re serious. If they’re not, then we will do what’s necessary to protect our interests, and also the interests of our allies,” Rubio said in Manila.

He stressed that Iran could not be allowed to control the Strait of Hormuz, arguing it would create a dangerous precedent for the world including Southeast Asian countries, many of which have territorial disputes in the South China Sea with China.

“If we create a precedent in the Middle East where a nation state can decide that they are going to control an international waterway, charge a toll, and if you don’t pay them blow up your ships, we have created a very dangerous precedent, which will repeat itself in other parts of the world, including in this region,” Rubio said.

With no diplomatic breakthrough in sight, the US military bombed targets across Iran for an 11th straight night on Tuesday. Tehran residents reported hearing explosions in the early hours of Wednesday as Iran activated its air defences over the capital, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency said.

Three locations in Iran’s Bushehr Province, home to Iran’s only nuclear power plant, were hit by US attacks early on Wednesday, an official told Iran’s state news agency IRNA, including an electricity post close to the plant.

Iran’s army said it targeted US military facilities in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain with drones early on Wednesday. The army said it struck accommodation buildings and equipment storage facilities at Al Azraq air base in Jordan, and later targeted equipment warehouses and aircraft maintenance hangars at Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain using Arash suicide drones.

Reuters was unable to immediately verify details of the attacks.

US President Donald Trump confirmed that 18 US service members had been killed so far in the war, including four in Iranian attacks on US military bases in Jordan and Iraq over the last few days.

Oil prices rose further in Asian trade on Wednesday after climbing more than 2% on Tuesday following the Houthi threats, with Brent crude hovering above $91 a barrel and US gasoline back over $4 a gallon.

“Gate of Tears”

In a letter to shippers, the Houthis on Tuesday threatened to attack any ships that load or discharge Saudi oil.

Trump said the Houthis had not yet shut the Bab el-Mandeb, the “Gate of Tears” strait leading into the Red Sea, and threatened to act against them if they did.

“So far it hasn’t happened,” Trump said. “If something like that happens, we take care of it.”

Three oil tankers loaded with Saudi crude for China and India made U-turns in the Red Sea on Tuesday, heading towards the Suez Canal rather than braving the Yemeni coast at the sea’s mouth.

Throughout the war, Saudi Arabia partially escaped the shipping disruption by piping oil to Yanbu on the Red Sea instead. But a full closure of that alternative route by the Houthis could reduce global oil supply as it would leave most Saudi oil exports trapped.

On Tuesday, Trump renewed his threats to again attack Iran’s nuclear facilities at Natanz “pretty soon”, which he said in June 2025 had been “totally obliterated” after the US military bombed the facility, buried in a mountain range, that month. Iran promised it would retaliate.

Fifty civilians have been killed and 500 wounded in the recent U.S. strikes on Iran, a health ministry official said.

The Saudi Ministry of Commerce has announced an exceptional three-month discount season, giving commercial establishments and online stores an additional opportunity to run promotional campaigns without affecting their annual allocation of permitted discount days, according to Okaz newspaper report in the Saudi Gazette said.

According to a circular issued to the Federation of Saudi Chambers, the exceptional discount season will run from August 1 to October 31, 2026. The period will not be counted as part of the annual limit for discount campaigns.

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The initiative is aimed at supporting the retail sector by providing businesses with greater flexibility to launch promotional offers while encouraging consumer spending during the three-month period.

Businesses encouraged to participate

The ministry said commercial establishments and e-commerce platforms can apply electronically for discount licenses through its website, allowing them to obtain, print and display the required permits for consumers with ease.

It also encouraged businesses to take advantage of the initiative while ensuring full compliance with the regulations governing promotional campaigns. The Federation of Saudi Chambers similarly urged private sector establishments to participate in the exceptional season to maximise benefits for both businesses and consumers.

Under the ministry’s existing regulations, commercial establishments are allowed to hold discount campaigns for up to 90 days each year, with the period divided into as many as three separate campaigns. Each license may cover a maximum of 45 days for either comprehensive or partial discounts.

The ministry clarified that the exceptional three-month discount season is entirely separate from the existing annual allocation. As a result, businesses will be able to conduct promotional campaigns during the August 1 to October 31 period without reducing the 90 days of discounts already permitted under current regulations, offering retailers an additional opportunity to attract shoppers and stimulate sales.