Abu Dhabi’s AI fund MGX has invested USD 2 bn via stablecoin in Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, the platform said in a press release. The investment marks the single largest investment into a cryptocurrency company and is the first institutional investment in Binance. It is also the largest investment ever paid in stablecoin.

The details: The investment will see MGX secure a minority stake in Binance, the statement said. Binance currently employs one-fifth of its 5k strong workforce in the UAE, with its 260 mn users generating USD 100 tn in cumulative trading volume.

This marks MGX’s first investment in crypto, with the fund having focused its investments on AI thus far. Besides pledging initial investments in the USD 30-50 bn planned data centers in France and buying into Khazna Data Centers, it has also invested in Elon Musk’x AI firm xAI, as well as in ChatGPT maker OpenAI, and has backed a major AI infrastructure fund launched by BlackRock and Global Infrastructure Partner.

What they said: This reflects MGX’s "commitment to advancing blockchain’s transformative potential for digital finance, according to MGX CEO Ahmed Yahia, whilst Binance CEO Richard Teng called the investment “a significant milestone for the crypto industry and for Binance.” Teng previously served as CEO of the Abu Dhabi Financial Services Authority.

REMEMBER- Last summer Binance was considering setting up its headquarters in the Emirates — in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, or a third undisclosed city — Teng told Bloomberg. It had secured approval from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (Vara) earlier in April to operate as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (Vasp).

Welcome news: The investment is a vote of confidence for an industry that recently had some bad press following cryptocurrency’s biggest hack last month when Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange Bybit lost over USD 1.5 bn following a cyberattack.

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