UAE fund ploughs $2bn into Binance crypto exchange

DUBAI: United Arab Emirates-based fund MGX has invested $2 billion to take a minority stake in cryptocurrency exchange Binance, the two sides said, calling it the biggest investment into a crypto company.

MGX, headed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, brother of the UAE’s president, also becomes Binance’s first institutional investor.

The transaction, made in stablecoin – a cryptocurrency pegged to real-world assets – marks the largest investment ever paid in crypto, they said on Wednesday.

“Our goal is to build a more inclusive and sustainable ecosystem, with a strong focus on compliance, security, and user protection,” Binance CEO Richard Teng said in a joint statement.

State-backed MGX is also involved in Stargate, the United States’ major artificial intelligence infrastructure project, and a giant AI data centre to be built in France at a cost of up to 50 billion euros ($54 billion).

Australia takes Binance unit to court over consumer protection failures

Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange, is under investigation in France, where it is suspected of failing to fulfil its obligations to control customers’ funds.

According to investigations by two US Treasury agencies, Binance failed to prevent transactions by movements such as the Islamic State group, Al-Qaeda or the armed wing of Hamas.

Its founder, Chinese-born Changpeng Zhao, last year pleaded guilty to violating US anti-money laundering laws and Binance agreed to pay $4.3 billion to settle charges.