Methodology

The MFTA Web3 & Fintech Directory is an online interactive resource that provides a structured, verified registry of Web3, Digital Asset, and Fintech companies operating across the covered jurisdictions. It is published by the MENA Fintech Association as a public resource for investors, regulators, researchers, and ecosystem participants.

The objective of the MFTA Web3 & Fintech Directory is to offer industry actors, regulators, researchers, and the public access to longitudinal and current data related to the fintech and digital asset industry. The Directory aims to become a collaborative platform whereby users and industry participants can actively review, update, and share data.

The Directory has been developed to systematically identify, classify, and present fintech and Web3 entities across the jurisdictions within its scope. The methodology follows the design principles of the Fintech Ecosystem Atlas developed by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School, applying a consistent taxonomy, standardised data fields, and regulatory-grade data sources to ensure accuracy and comparability across jurisdictions.

The working definition applied in this Directory refers to entities that use digital technology to provide or enable the provision of financial services, or that operate digital asset and blockchain infrastructure within the covered jurisdictions. Where these technologies have been applied by entities and have enabled new or evolved business models, instruments, products, channels, or systems, they have been included in the Directory.

Incumbent financial services firms have been excluded unless they hold a dedicated fintech or digital asset licence or division. All entities included in the Directory must have been in operation for at least one year and must show a concrete digital or regulatory presence. The Directory employs manual data extraction processes and direct verification against official regulatory registers and public company disclosures.

Geographic Scope

The Directory covers entities with active operations or significant regulatory presence across the following jurisdictions. The scope is reviewed periodically and expanded to reflect the growth of digital financial services ecosystems in adjacent markets.

Classification System

The MFTA has developed a comprehensive classification system to classify organisations in a consistent manner by business model. The Directory covers two primary verticals, Web3 & Digital Assets and Fintech, each subdivided into segments and categories. The structure of the classification system is hierarchical and built on an activity-oriented conceptual framework that groups entities based on services offered directly to clients or users.

An organisation is classified in a category when its service offerings meet the definition of that category. The classification process is not exclusive — one organisation may fall under multiple categories when it offers more than one service. This approach ensures uniformity of entity classification over time. The classification system is periodically revised, based on internal research and external feedback, to reflect the industry's dynamic nature and evolving composition.

Organisation Inclusion Criteria

The criteria for organisation inclusion into the MFTA Web3 & Fintech Directory are:

• Scope of operations. The operating activities of an entity should be directly related to the fintech or digital asset industry and fit within the boundaries of the MFTA classification system as set out in Tables 2–3.
• Minimum lifespan. As one of the objectives of the Directory is to provide longitudinal and historical data, an entity is not de facto required to be currently operational; however, it must have had a minimum operational lifespan of one year and an active business within that period.
• Organisational structure. An entity should have some form of identifiable operational structure. An entity is not required to be legally incorporated in any jurisdiction to be included; however, incorporation and regulatory information, where available, are used to evaluate this criterion.
• Regulatory presence. The entity should hold a current licence, registration, sandbox authorisation, or in-principle approval issued by a recognised financial regulator; or have operated under a demonstrably active business model with verifiable regulatory interaction.

Additional optional criteria include:

• Public disclosure. An entity should have clear, publicly available information related to its activities and operations — for example a functional website, company registry entry, or regulatory public register listing.
• Digital footprint. An entity should have an online presence showcasing its product or service at the time of operating.
• Individual behind the company. An entity should be associated with an identifiable founder, executive, or pseudonymous alias documented in public sources.

Data Collection

The data presented in the MFTA Web3 & Fintech Directory is obtained through desk research. Data is collected from primary sources, such as official regulatory public registers, company websites, official company documents, company statements, and press releases; as well as secondary data sources such as news articles, funding databases, professional network profiles, and other publicly available online presence.

Where specific licence types and regulated activities are available from official regulatory registers, these are documented in the Licences by Jurisdiction field. Where regulatory registers are not publicly accessible, are JavaScript-rendered without a machine-readable interface, or do not publish individual entity reference numbers, the registration number field is left blank and documented accordingly.

Registration Number Sourcing

Registration numbers and licence references are sourced directly from official public regulatory registers where the relevant authority publishes them in a publicly accessible format. The table below documents the availability of registration numbers by jurisdiction covered in the Directory.

It is important to note that a significant number of regulators across the covered jurisdictions do not publish individual entity registration numbers through their public-facing registers. A blank entry (–) in the Reg. No. column does not indicate an unregulated entity, it indicates that the relevant regulatory authority does not release this information publicly. The entity's regulatory status and licence type have been verified through official announcements, company disclosures, and press records.

It is further important to distinguish between two types of reference numbers that may appear in the Directory:

• Incorporation / Company Number. The number assigned by the company registrar when the legal entity is formed. This is separate from the regulatory licence.
• Licence / Regulatory Reference Number. The number assigned by the financial regulator when a financial services licence is issued. VARA publishes both: the SCA-VASP registration number and the VL/... licence reference code. The SBP publishes the date of licence approval, which is used as the licence reference for Pakistani entities.

Multi-Jurisdiction Entities

Entities operating under licences or registrations in two or more jurisdictions are flagged with a symbol in the Multi-Jurisdiction Note column of the Directory. The Jurisdiction(s) cell is highlighted for quick visual identification within the Excel workbook.

This identification is important for understanding regulatory arbitrage strategies, group holding structures, cross-border expansion patterns, and the relative depth of each jurisdiction's regulatory framework. Multi-jurisdiction entities typically reflect one of three structural patterns: a single operating entity with licences in multiple jurisdictions; separate legal entities within the same corporate group each holding independent licences; or a combination of operational and holding entities registered across jurisdictions for structural purposes.

Operating Status Definitions

Each entity in the Directory is assigned one of the following status categories based on its current regulatory standing at the time of publication.

Data Sources

Data is collected from a combination of primary regulatory sources and supplementary secondary sources. Primary sources take precedence in all cases where they are accessible.

Secondary and supplementary sources used in data collection include:

• Company websites and official product documentation
• Press releases, funding announcements, and industry media (Wamda, Magnitt, Sifted, TechCrunch MENA, Arabian Business, ProPakistani, Dawn Business)
• LinkedIn corporate profiles for founder and CEO name verification
• MFTA member directory and industry events
• CB Insights, Crunchbase, and PitchBook for ownership, acquisition, and funding data
• State registrar databases and opencorporates.com for incorporation details
• MFTA research team direct outreach to member companies

Limitations

Limitations of the data collected are listed below, along with the approach adopted to address and mitigate some of these challenges.

• Registration number availability. Registration numbers are only shown where the relevant regulatory register publishes them in a publicly accessible, machine-readable format. A significant number of regulators across the covered jurisdictions – including SAMA, CBJ, CBB, QFC, BCT, BAM, CBE, FRA, and SPK – do not publish individual entity registration numbers on their public-facing websites. A blank entry (–) does not indicate an unregulated entity.
• Portal-rendered registers. Several registers, including ADGM, DIFC, and SECP, require interactive portal access and are JavaScript-rendered. Registration and FSP numbers from these sources are noted where independently documented but are not systematically available for all entities.
• Evolving regulatory frameworks. Some jurisdictions covered by the Directory operate under transitional, sandbox, or pre-licensing regulatory environments. Entities in these jurisdictions are classified by their operational nature and actual regulatory interaction rather than a formal licence type, with appropriate status designations noted.
• Regulatory standing verification. This Directory does not constitute verification of an entity's current regulatory standing. Users should always consult the relevant regulator's official register directly before making investment, partnership, or compliance decisions.
• Leadership information. Founder and CEO information reflects the best-known information at the time of publication and may change after publication.
• International licences. Entities may hold licences outside the jurisdictions covered by this Directory. Only licences and registrations within the covered jurisdictions are documented.
• Complex corporate structures. Corporate entities are often structured in complex ways based on commercial, legal, and tax considerations. Where applicable, the Directory focuses on the primary operating or licensed entity rather than the full holding structure. Shareholding patterns of private entities are not systematically available.
• Completeness. The Directory is not exhaustive. It covers known entities with verifiable regulatory presence within the covered jurisdictions and will be expanded in subsequent versions through ongoing desk research and community contribution.

Update Cycle & Versioning

The MFTA Web3 & Fintech Directory follows a semi-annual review and publication cycle. Each published version is date-stamped and archived on the MFTA platform. The classification system is periodically revised, based on internal research and external feedback, to reflect the industry's dynamic nature and evolving composition.