The Louvres, Abu Dhabi
Marhaba, fintech friends!
Between Abu Dhabi Finance Week and the Formula One final, it was a big week in the UAE capital.
In fintech, it was licensing galore for regional players, but a frenzy for global ones:
Binance gets licensed for 3 separate entities to be launched in January (an exchange, a clearing house, and a broker dealer);
Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin becomes an accepted fiat-referenced token, and
Circle secures a full financial services permission from ADGM, allowing it to operate as a regulated Money Services Provider in the UAE
This upgrades Circle's earlier in-principle approval and gives USDC a defined path into regional payment, settlement and treasury workflows.
The regulatory drive aligns with a broader regional shift toward programmable, regulated value transfer: Morocco introduced a draft digital-asset framework that includes stablecoins. Saudi Arabia is deploying national tokenization infrastructure tied to real-estate markets. The UAE continues to build cross-border interoperability through platforms like mBridge, which recently facilitated its first direct CBDC payment with China.
With Circle now fully licensed in Abu Dhabi, stablecoin rails are becoming a more formal part of the country's financial architecture, supporting emerging use cases across institutional settlement, cross-border liquidity and developer-led payment applications.
Now, let’s get into the rest of this week’s activity across fintech in MENA.
💸 Fundraises and Exits
🇸🇦 erad, a Riyadh-based alternative financing platform, secures a $125 million credit facility in partnership with Jefferies and with co-investment from Channel Capital
🇧🇭🇹🇷 Paribu, a Turkish digital asset platform, acquires CoinMENA, the region's largest crypto exchange in a deal valued at $240 million
🇦🇪 Zelo, a private credit platform and IHC subsidiary, receives $715 million from its parents company to expand supply chain financing across the Middle East
🇦🇪 Byit Capital, a UAE-based proptech focused on agent-first brokerage, raises $1.1 million from A15, Beltone Holding and angel investors
💰 Funds
🇦🇪 Hashgraph Ventures completes the first close of its Web3 and AI early-stage venture capital fund
🇯🇴🇺🇸 Propeller, MENA-based VC firm, launches its third fund with $50 million in capital to invest in US and MENA start-ups building horizontal AI infrastructure and AI-native software
🚀 Partnerships & Product Launches
🇧🇭🇯🇴 Bahrain's ARP Digital, a crypto-asset services provider, partners with Cairo Amman Bank (Jordan) to develop and provide regulated OTC virtual asset conversion services in both countries
🇦🇪 Huru launches Quick Cash, an instant microfinance feature developed with Mawarid Finance
🇦🇪 Visa expands its stablecoin settlement capabilities across CEMEA, leveraging Aquanow's digital asset infrastructure
🇦🇪 Global digital payments gateway, COINPAYMENTS, partners with Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team
🇦🇪 SlashData launches Shary in partnership with the Integrated Transport Centre: a digital escrow service for vehicle ownership transfers within the federal licensing system
🇸🇦 Merchants using MoneyHash can now seamlessly integrate loyalty programs, through the start-up's new partnership with WalaOne
🇦🇪 The UAE's digital-first Islamic bank, ruya, launches shariah-compliant bitcoin trading
🇦🇪 botim Money and Binance explore avenues for digital asset access for customers
🇦🇪 Presight partners with HSBC UAE to develop AI capabilities in risk management, operational performance and client insights
🇦🇪 Franklin Templeton signs MoUs with Finstreet and ADI Corporation to develop digital asset solutions
🇦🇪🇨🇳 YeePay, China-based cross-border fintech, sets up a regional headquarters and technology hub in Abu Dhabi
🇸🇾 Following an agreement to develop the country's digital payments ecosystem, Visa announces plans to launch operations in Syria
🇦🇪 Emirates Gold partners with Public Gold, a Malaysian gold solutions providers, to introduce the world's first fintech-enabled Gold ATM in the UAE.
🏛 Licensing & Regulations
🇦🇪 Binance receives formal authorization from ADGM's FSRA
🇦🇪 Rostro Group receives a Category 5 license from the UAE's Securities and Commodities Authority
🇦🇪 Tabadulat, a Shariah-compliant investing platform, receives a full Financial Services Permission as a Category 3A licensed entity from ADGM's FSRA
🇦🇪 Circle secures a license from ADGM's FSRA to expand its regulated payment and settlement services for businesses, developers and financial institutions in the UAE
🇦🇪 Animoca Brands, a Hong Kong-based digital assets and Web3 company, receives in-principal approval to operate as a regulated fund manager under ADGM
🇦🇪 Abu Dhabi's FSRA recognizes Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin as an accepted fiat-referenced token for use within ADGM
🇦🇪 Zest Equity is licensed to offer escrow, distribution services and digital execution capabilities for private market transactions under ADGM.
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Until next week,
Salam ✌🏼
