Abu Dhabi's Financial Services Regulatory Authority has spent years building one of the clearest licensing paths for crypto firms, and sovereign capital is now following it in. Citadel Mining has built up about 6,996 BTC through Abu Dhabi mining operations, while Mubadala raised its BlackRock IBIT stake 16% in the first quarter of 2026.
Licensed exchanges, miners and sovereign funds are now moving into the Abu Dhabi Global Market, built on rules its regulator has enforced since 2018 — years before many other jurisdictions caught up.
Regulators Set the Rules Early
Firms need a Financial Services Permission before they can operate in the zone, and only assets the regulator labels "Accepted Virtual Assets" can move through regulated products; privacy tokens and algorithmic stablecoins are barred outright. That framework has already pulled in major names: Binance secured full ADGM approvals covering trading, clearing and brokerage, run through separate Nest-branded entities, while Galaxy Digital opened an ADGM office and BNY works toward regulated bitcoin and ethereum custody with local partners. Regulators also recognized Tether's USDT as an accepted asset for licensed platforms to use.
Citadel Mining Stacks Nearly 7,000 Bitcoin
Citadel Mining, tied to Abu Dhabi's Royal Group through International Holding Company, started large mining operations around 2022, including facilities on Al Reem Island. Arkham Intelligence data puts its holdings near 6,996.55718089 BTC, worth roughly $451.05 million at the exchange rate used in that analysis. The firm built most of that stack by mining coins rather than buying them, and it has kept the bulk of what it produced instead of selling.
Mubadala Raises Its Bitcoin ETF Stake
Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth funds have taken a second path into bitcoin, buying regulated exposure through BlackRock's spot bitcoin ETF, IBIT, rather than holding coins directly. Mubadala Investment Company reported about 12.7 million IBIT shares at the end of 2025, worth close to $631 million. By Q1 2026, the fund had raised its position 16% to roughly 14.7 million shares, valued at nearly $566 million as the share price moved.
Al Warda Investments, linked to the Abu Dhabi Investment Council within the wider Mubadala structure, held about 8.2 million IBIT shares at the end of 2025, worth close to $408 million. Combined, the two funds' IBIT positions topped $1 billion at year-end 2025 prices, and both holdings show up in public U.S. SEC 13F filings.
Tax Breaks and Tokenization Add Momentum
Qualifying income inside Abu Dhabi's free zones carries a 0% corporate tax rate, individuals generally owe no personal income or capital gains tax, and foreign founders can own their companies outright. Mubadala Capital has pushed further onchain, partnering with KAIO to bring its Alternative Solutions Fund across the Base, Solana and Sui networks through tokenization. The product drew about $75 million onchain around its key announcement points, and Coinbase took a balance-sheet position in it.
None of this runs through a single government office: Dubai's VARA framework competes with ADGM for the same firms, pushing the rules toward more clarity rather than less.
Source: Bitcoin.com News
Trading involves risk.
Risk Disclaimer
