Abu Dhabi’s financial free zone signs MoU with Chainlink for tokenization frameworks

Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), a financial zone with over $635 billion in assets under management, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Chainlink in a move to connect the world of traditional finance with blockchain data.

The agreement will allow ADGM to use Chainlink’s suite of tools, such as data feeds and interoperability technology, ADGM said in a March 24 announcement. The partnership also aims to encourage further discussion around blockchain, artificial intelligence, and other emerging technologies in the region.

ADGM, which opened in 2015, is in the United Arab Emirates’ financial free zone. It operates under its own civil and commercial legal system, based on English Common Law. Designed to bolster Abu Dhabi’s status as a financial hub, ADGM plays a central role in attracting global firms and expanding the city’s financial services sector.

By the end of 2024, ADGM hosted 134 asset and fund managers overseeing 166 funds. The total number of financial institutions operating within its jurisdiction rose to 275, with 79 new firms, including prominent names such as BlackRock, PGIM, and Morgan Stanley.

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Multiple metrics show that cryptocurrency adoption in the UAE is rising, aided by government openness to emerging technology. The country saw a 41% increase in crypto app downloads in 2024 from 2023, and it ranked third out of 28 countries in the Henley Crypto Adoption Index 2024.

Abu Dhabi, in particular, has been a hot spot for crypto firms. In December 2024, the ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority officially recognized Tether’s USDT (USDT) stablecoin as an accepted virtual asset, paving the way for the cryptocurrency’s integration into the local financial ecosystem.

On March 12, Binance announced that MGX, an Abu Dhabi-based investment firm, had invested $2 billion into the exchange, one of the largest funding deals in the industry’s history.

Dubai, another Emirate in the UAE, has also shown itself open to cryptocurrency businesses. In February, Dubai approved USDC (USDC) and EURC as the first two stablecoins under its regime.

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