PRESS RELEASE.

Dubai will host RWA SUMMIT Dubai on May 1, 2026, at Uptown Tower (DMCC), bringing together institutional investors, regulators, founders, and infrastructure leaders shaping the next phase of real-world asset tokenization. The summit forms part of the broader global initiative RWA WEEK, an international platform designed to connect regional tokenization ecosystems and accelerate the institutional adoption of blockchain-based financial infrastructure.

The announcement follows the strong momentum generated earlier this year in Asia, where RWA SUMMIT Hong Kong gathered 2,322 registrations, 745 senior attendees and 147 active investors, demonstrating that tokenization has moved decisively beyond experimentation and into structured institutional deployment. The conversations emerging from that gathering reflected a market no longer questioning whether real-world assets will transform finance, but focusing instead on execution, interoperability, and scalable infrastructure.

RWA WEEK was created as a global framework uniting industry stakeholders across jurisdictions that are advancing regulatory clarity and practical implementation of tokenized assets. Within this broader initiative, RWA SUMMIT Dubai represents the Middle East’s institutional entry point into the rapidly forming Asia–Middle East corridor of digital finance. The UAE’s progressive regulatory environment and growing concentration of capital allocators have positioned Dubai as a natural hub for discussions surrounding the next stage of tokenization adoption.

The summit is expected to convene more than 400 senior participants supported by over 1,500 ecosystem registrations, including institutional investors, founders, financial institutions, technology providers, and policymakers actively involved in bringing real-world assets on-chain. Discussions throughout the event will address the evolving regulatory landscape in the UAE and globally, the tokenization of financial products, commodities and real estate, the emergence of new payment and settlement infrastructure, institutional scaling strategies, the rise of RWAFI at the intersection of decentralized and traditional finance, the positioning of tokenized assets as a distinct institutional asset class, and the integration of artificial intelligence within tokenization ecosystems as the industry transitions from narrative-driven experimentation to operational deployment.

RWA WEEK will gather a distinguished lineup of global speakers contributing to the evolution of digital finance and tokenized markets, including Mohammed Ebrahim Al Fardan (Al Fardan Ventures), Ahmed Bin Sulayem (Executive Chairman & CEO, DMCC), Ruben Bombardi (VARA), Mohammad Raafi Hassain (Fasset), Charles d’Haussy (dYdX Foundation), Kate Kim (KAST), Talal Tabbaa (CoinMENA), Alex Scott ( Solana Superteam Middle East), Rajat Sakhuja (Mastercard), Joseph El Am (PRYPCO), Juliet Su (NewTribe Capital), Philipp Caspers-Pabst (ZIGChain), Mark Dymock (SC Ventures), Adam Bilko (RockawayX), and other industry leaders.

“Hong Kong demonstrated that institutional capital is no longer watching from the sidelines,” said Ivan V. Ivanov, Founder of UVECON.VC and Co-Host of RWA WEEK. “ RWA SUMMIT Dubai represents the next step in building a strategic bridge between Asia and the Middle East — regions that are advancing fastest in real regulatory implementation. The future of tokenization will depend on coordination between infrastructure builders, capital allocators and regulators working toward shared standards.”

“Tokenization scales only when legal architecture, regulatory clarity and capital alignment evolve together. The UAE has invested significant effort in building that foundation, and Dubai now provides an environment where asset issuers and founders can bring real-world assets on-chain at institutional scale,” added Irina Heaver, Founder of NeosLegal and Founding Member of RWAlabs.ae.

RWA WEEK is co-hosted by UVECON.VC and RWAlabs.ae, with strategic partners including dYdX Foundation, NeosLegal, NewTribe Capital and LynxCap Investments, while Forbes serves as media partner. As tokenization transitions from a market narrative into financial infrastructure, RWA SUMMIT Dubai positions itself as one of the defining gatherings shaping how real-world assets integrate into the global financial system.

Register now: https://luma.com/rwasummitdubai

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A Newport Beach man has been sentenced to federal prison for laundering money for a group of young con artists who prosecutors said stole $263 million in cryptocurrency and used the loot to purchase luxury cars, rent out mansions and private jets and spend as much as $500,000 at nightclubs.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington sentenced 22-year-old Evan Tangeman to 70 months in federal prison after he pleaded guilty in December. She also ordered him to serve three years of supervised release.

Tangeman admitted to federal authorities that he laundered at least $3.5 million for the group, which scammed more than $263 million in cryptocurrency from investors in the U.S.

Federal authorities said Tangeman, whose monikers included “E,” “Tate” and “Evan Exchanger,” was one of nine members of a “social engineering crime enterprise” made up of hackers, scammers, residential burglars and crypto money launderers.

Social engineering is a type of fraud scheme used to trick victims into providing scammers with passwords, PINs and other personal information.

Federal investigators said the group impersonated security technicians and employees of cryptocurrency exchange companies such as Coinbase and Gemini to steal from their victims. An associate of the group referred to them as the “crypto kids.”

“This criminal enterprise was built on greed so brazen it borders on cartoonish,” said Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. “They stole millions, spent it on half-million-dollar nightclub tabs, Lamborghinis, and Rolexes.”

Federal authorities said the group formed through online gaming platforms. Its members, including some who were teenagers, lived in California, Connecticut, New York, Florida and in other countries.

Federal authorities said the group had begun its crime spree by October 2023 and continued through at least May 2025.

Earlier this year, one of the members of the group, a 17-year-old, testified against Eric Halem, a former Los Angeles police officer who was convicted last month of robbing $350,000 worth of cryptocurrency from the teen in 2024.

In testifying against Halem, the teen, who was sworn in to testify just under his first name, Daniel, revealed a subculture around newly created crypto wealth. The so-called crypto kids included fixers who set them up with homes, cars, clothes and other luxuries.

Among the fixers was Tangeman, who federal authorities said not only converted the stolen cryptocurrency into cash but worked with real estate agents in Los Angeles to obtain large mansions for members.

They said the group was made up of unemployed young men, often under 20 years old, who feared drawing attention from authorities for renting homes at $40,000 to $80,000 a month with no source of income.

“Some of those homes were valued from $4 million up to nearly $9 million,” federal prosecutors said in a news release announcing Tangeman’s sentencing.

They said the group also had rental homes in the Hamptons in New York and in Miami.

Federal officials said the money Tangeman laundered was spent by the group to live lavishly, including hundreds of thousands of dollars spent at nightclubs, and luxury handbags valued at tens of thousands of dollars that were given away at nightclub parties. The group also bought luxury clothes and watches that cost up to $500,000. It also had a fleet of luxury cars ranging in value from $100,000 to nearly $4 million.

Federal prosecutors said Tangeman was rewarded well for his services. At least one member arranged for the purchase of a wide-body Lamborghini Urus worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Federal agents seized a black 2022 Rolls-Royce Ghost, valued at more than $300,000, while serving a search warrant at Tangeman’s home. They also seized a Porsche GT3 RS.

“Finally, when the first members of the criminal enterprise … were arrested and the massive scale of their fraud revealed, it was Tangeman who took it upon himself to direct co-defendant Tucker Desmond to destroy digital devices belonging to members of the enterprise,” the new release read.

Key Takeaways:

• Brent crude climbed above $115 per barrel on April 29 as Trump ordered preparations for an extended Iranian naval blockade.
• The IEA called the Strait of Hormuz shutdown the largest supply shock on record, with 20% of global oil flows halted.
• The Federal Reserve is expected to hold rates steady today, with Chair Jerome Powell’s comments on inflation risks in focus.

Iran Blockade Fears Push Brent Crude Higher, Largest Increase Since June 2022

Brent, the international benchmark, climbed above $115 per barrel on Wednesday, the highest level since June 2022, marking an eighth straight session of gains as concerns over global supply intensified. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, the U.S. benchmark, rose above $102 per barrel as well, gaining for the third straight session, supported by mounting uncertainty around global supply as U.S.-Iran peace talks stalled and the Strait of Hormuz remained effectively closed.

The Strait of Hormuz normally handles roughly 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments. Since late February, Iran has restricted tanker traffic through the chokepoint to near zero in response to U.S. military pressure. Ongoing U.S.-Iran tensions and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz continue to tighten the supply outlook.

Peace negotiations collapsed in Pakistan in mid-April without agreement, and a ceasefire that had been in place since early April remains fragile. President Trump said Iran has called for the U.S. to lift its naval blockade while negotiations continue. Trump, writing on Truth Social, told Iran to “get smart soon” and sign a deal, framing the blockade as a lower-risk alternative to resumed airstrikes.

Iran’s economy is reportedly under severe strain. The country is reporting 53.7% inflation, a record-low rial, and millions of job losses linked to the conflict. The Iranian rial crashed to a record low of approximately 1.8 million (or 1.81 million) per U.S. dollar. Tehran has vowed to keep disrupting Hormuz traffic, claiming it can manage through alternative routes.

Washington is stepping up pressure with potential sanctions targeting Chinese refiners and countries paying transit fees through Hormuz. The UAE announced it will exit OPEC on May 1 to gain production flexibility, though analysts say that move does little to ease the immediate supply crunch while Hormuz remains closed.

Prices have swung sharply since the conflict began. Brent neared $120 per barrel at earlier peaks in 2026 before pulling back on ceasefire hopes. The World Bank has forecast energy prices could rise 24% overall this year under prolonged disruptions, the steepest projected increase since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The average price for a gallon of regular gas has hit $4.229, the highest since Aug. 2, 2022. Fuel costs are heavily influenced by oil prices, which account for more than half of the price at the pump. With refiners now transitioning to pricier summer-blend gasoline, further pressure at the pump is expected heading into peak driving season.

U.S. Equities and Bonds Remain Rattled

U.S. equity markets edged lower on April 29 as the oil rally compounded existing uncertainty. The S&P 500 edged down 0.20%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.27%, and the Nasdaq slipped 0.41%. Hyperscalers Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet, and Amazon, totaling around $11 trillion in market cap, were between 1% and 2% lower ahead of their earnings reports after the bell, set to update their artificial intelligence (AI) capital expenditure.

Visa was over 5% higher after posting strong results for the last quarter, while Booking dropped 4% on its earnings. Defensive stocks held ground despite fresh oil gains. European markets also softened, with the FTSE 100 off 0.73% and the pan-European Stoxx 600 down 0.4%.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield ticked up to 4.39%, reflecting inflation worries tied to rising energy costs. The Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold rates steady at its meeting today. Chair Jerome Powell is likely to reiterate that policymakers remain data-dependent, with inflation risks elevated while growth remains stable. This is expected to be Powell’s final meeting before his term concludes in May.

The confluence of Big Tech earnings, a Fed decision, and an oil shock driven by geopolitics has left traders with little margin for error. Markets remain fluid. Any breakthrough in U.S.-Iran talks or an agreement to reopen the strait could quickly reverse the oil rally, as prior ceasefire announcements have shown. Until then, traders are watching energy supply data, Fed signals, and geopolitical dispatches closely.