Abu Dhabi · United Arab Emirates · Coinbase · Tokenization · Fortune Technology
How the UAE has emerged as a ‘leading light’ for tokenization
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Abu Dhabi’s bid to become a global hub for digital assets got a major boost last week when crypto exchange giant, Coinbase, announced it is establishing an international “tokenization hub” in the emirate.
Key facts
- In a report published in January this year, global consulting firm Kearney estimated that by 2030, close to $500 billion in assets across the GCC could be represented on blockchain, comprising
- Of these, it believes that private markets represent the largest tokenization opportunity for the GCC, which it estimates could reach $154 billion in market size by 2030
- In July, ADI Foundation announced that ADI Chain had secured a $50 million strategic investment, marking a major milestone for one of the region’s fastest-growing institutional blockchain ecosystems
- ADI Foundation is an Abu Dhabi-based organization creating blockchain infrastructure that aims to bring one billion people into the digital economy by 2030
Summary
Based out of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the emirate’s financial centre, Coinbase has been granted a license to arrange investment deals and provide custody for tokenized securities. Tokenization has been rapidly gaining momentum across traditional finance globally, with major asset managers and banks increasingly bringing funds, bonds, private credit and equities onto blockchain infrastructure. Abu Dhabi has emerged as a key testing ground for this transition. ADGM introduced one of the world’s first comprehensive virtual asset regulatory frameworks back in 2018 and has since attracted a steady wave of crypto and tokenization firms looking to establish a regulated base in the region.