Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund-backed artificial intelligence investor MGX entered the cryptocurrency and blockchain sectors with a $2 billion investment in crypto exchange Binance.
MGX is an AI and advanced technology investor founded by $302 billion sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, Abu Dhabi, and AI-development company G42 last year.
The deal marks the first institutional investment in Binance, a joint news release said, and is also the single largest investment into a crypto company. It’s also the largest investment ever paid with a cryptocurrency, the news release said, using stablecoin.
MGX secured a minority stake in Binance as part of a broader strategy to support blockchain’s transformative impact on society, the release said.
About one-fifth of Binance’s global workforce is employed in the United Arab Emirates. The exchange has more than 260 million registered users and more than $100 trillion in cumulative trading volume.
“MGX’s investment in Binance reflects our commitment to advancing blockchain’s transformative potential for digital finance,” said Ahmed Yahia, managing director and CEO at MGX, in the release. “As institutional adoption accelerates, the need for secure, compliant, and scalable blockchain infrastructure and solutions has never been greater. Binance has long been a driving force in cryptocurrency innovation, from exchange technology and tokenization to staking and payments. Together, we are committed to building a more inclusive and robust digital finance ecosystem."
Details on the size of the minority stake were not immediately available.
