Absolutely, Dubai is becoming a go-to spot for financial activities, especially for those in newer industries like cryptocurrencies. And besides the business perks, Dubai also offers a fantastic lifestyle and plenty of networking opportunities.
Dubai is a playground, business deals are definitely completed there and it is home to many millionaires - but it is still a very fake country. No big businesses are going there to setup their main headquarters and store money within the reach of the UAE authorities. The mindset has shifted slowly, but there is no getting second citizenship in Dubai, you will always be an outsider unless you were born their and their citizens get a lot of perks thanks to this. It has a very biased and heavily religious influenced legal system which is not acceptable for most mega scale business dealings. If you go into debt in Dubai, you will be jailed until you pay it off, this is not a normal practice in most other advanced economies.
That is very true, the Dubai is actually a designated business layout which attracts investors and traders to its ground but it does not feel that good relaxations like most civilized countries due to their religious practices and non citizens restrictions.
There are also verses by which strangers anchors with fear in the environs just as you said, they are being biased and most concerned of their citizens.