peaq, the blockchain powering the Machine Economy, and Pulsar Group, a prominent Emirati venture studio and tech consultancy, have jointly announced the launch of the world’s first Machine Economy Free Zone (MEFZ), which will span across Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
The MEFZ will serve as a sandbox for advancing a human-centric Machine Economy — a vision championed by peaq where humans and machines co-exist, collaborate, and thrive in a future marked by abundance. The initiative lays the groundwork for widespread adoption of decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN) and community-owned machine-based applications.
The zone will be structured around four key pillars:
- Regulation: MEFZ will host a variety of regulatory pilots, including frameworks for compliant tokenization and investment in autonomous machines and robots.
- Deployment: With the support of local partners, peaq will establish both physical and digital sandboxes where founders can test new business models and deploy innovative technologies that drive smarter cities.
- Investment: Top-performing DePIN apps building on peaq will be connected with visionary investors and institutions in the region to fast-track growth and adoption.
- Innovation Hub: A dedicated innovation center will support DePIN-focused research, development, and deployment, while also facilitating collaboration with real-world demand partners.
One of the first initiatives set to launch in the zone is a framework for Machine Tokenization, aimed at democratizing investment in robots and intelligent devices — a critical component of peaq’s “Machine DeFi” ecosystem for autonomous finance. The MEFZ will also host the first-ever trial of Universal Basic Ownership (UBO) — an income model that distributes machine-generated profits directly to individuals and communities, without intermediaries. The UBO experiment will explore how the wealth created by automation can be equitably shared in an age of increasing job displacement.
peaq will also relocate its global headquarters to the Emirates, signaling its long-term commitment to the region and to making the UAE the heart of the Machine Economy.
These efforts follow the successful Machine Economy Days held in Abu Dhabi and Dubai last month. The event, co-hosted by peaq and Pulsar, featured live demonstrations from DePIN projects and drew high-level participation from both the public and private sectors. Attendees included His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Suroor Al Nahyan, representatives from the Ministry of Economy, Abu Dhabi Department of Municipalities, Careem, Microsoft, and other major institutions.
“We’re honored to be part of peaq’s transformative journey. peaq is redefining what’s possible for the future of the Machine Economy. By boldly bridging the physical and digital worlds through a decentralized, scalable, and sustainable Layer-1 blockchain, peaq is laying the foundation for a new era of real-world connectivity and autonomy. This is more than technology—it’s a movement, and we’re proud to help shape what comes next,” Alyazi Al Khattal, CEO of Pulsar, remarked.
“The Machine Economy is no longer a far-fetched dream, it is a reality quickly shaping up before our very eyes. peaq makes this transformation work for everyone — and the Emirates, as one of the most innovative nations in the world, is the perfect place to pilot this vision, setting a template and example for the rest of the world,” Till Wendler, co-founder of peaq, stated.
With this initiative, the UAE positions itself at the forefront of blockchain and AI innovation, offering a global model for integrating decentralized infrastructure into the real world.
