Dubai Police Force Drops NFTs

While they might have gotten their start in the private sector, government institutions seem to love NFTs these days. From the Ukrainian government selling NFTs to fund combat efforts to the U.K’s Royal Mint looking to release its own digital assets, the public sector seems to have caught the NFT fever. 

Now, this wave has spread to the Middle East and, more specifically, to the Dubai Police Force. This comes as the force has announced the launch of 150 NFTs, all of which represent specific values like innovation and security. 

The Digitalized Police 

According to an official announcement from Brigadier Khalid Nasser Al Razooqi, director of the General Department of Artificial Intelligence at Dubai Police, these NFTs are not for sale. Instead, any member of the public inside or outside of the UAE can get their hands on one by engaging with a social media post.

To win one of the NFTs, they need to share the post of the announcement on their own social media page. After this, they need to send a private message to the official Dubai Police account and provide some basic information. 

This includes their names, emails, and NFT wallet addresses. If they are successful, they will then receive one of the 150 NFTs. 

This is one of the more interesting uses of NFTs by a governmental organization. Unlike the Ukrainian collection, this isn’t in a bid to raise funds and unlike the Royal Mint, this isn’t likely in commemoration of anything.

From all indications, the UAE is simply trying to support and encourage the blockchain sector and this is a step in that direction. In the official announcement of the collection, some information was given on the nature of NFTs as a whole.

“NFT is a unit of data stored on a type of digital ledger called a blockchain, and every NFT is a unique copy in itself, containing complete information about the date of creation and owner,” the announcement said.

One of the most significant moves that has been made by the Dubai government in the development of the blockchain and crypto space has been the implementation of the Dubai Virtual Asset Regulation Law.

This law lays down the concrete framework for the governance of the virtual assets sector in Dubai. Speaking on the announcement, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, explained that the creation of the law and the Dubai Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority was in an effort to establish the city within the digital asset sector. The Sheik also stated the government’s intention to, “help the sector to grow and protect investors.” 

The Role of NFTs in Blockchain 

For years, the UAE has been working to establish itself as a hub for blockchain and crypto activity and has been largely successful thus far. As NFTs have become the darling of the industry, Dubai is turning its attention to them as well. 

This NFT collection from the Police force will, hopefully, be the first of many government-led efforts to promote NFTs.