FILE PHOTO: Smartphone with displayed Binance logo and representation of cryptocurrencies are placed on a keyboard in this illustration taken, June 8, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
DUBAI (Reuters) -Abu Dhabi investment group MGX has invested $2 billion worth of cryptocurrency into Binance, in what the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange said on Wednesday was its first institutional investment.
Binance and MGX said in statements posted on their website that the investment was made in stablecoin - a type of cryptocurrency pegged to a fiat currency such as the dollar.
A spokesperson for Binance declined to comment on which stablecoin the payment was made in.
The United Arab Emirates is aiming to become a global centre for digital assets, including the crypto industry, and has been trying to lure some of the biggest firms in the sector to build locally as part of a plan to diversify its economy.
It is also making a push for AI, led by the state-backed G42 and by MGX, in which the state-owned $330 billion wealth fund Mubadala is a partner.
"MGX’s investment in Binance reflects our commitment to advancing blockchain’s transformative potential for digital finance," said Ahmed Yahia, managing director and CEO of MGX, in the statement.
The move is the latest sign of Binance deepening its ties with the UAE. Binance has long said that it is in the process of choosing a location for its headquarters, and in Wednesday's announcement it said it had a "substantial footprint" in the UAE, employing around 1,000 of its 5,000 total staff there.
Binance CEO Richard Teng was previously head of Abu Dhabi's Financial Services Authority.
(Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft in Paris and Federico Maccioni in DubaiEditing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes)
