According to both parties, MGX, a firm located in the United Arab Emirates, has paid $2 billion to acquire a minority position in cryptocurrency exchange Binance, making it the largest investment into a crypto startup.
Binance’s first institutional investor is MGX, which is led by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of the United Arab Emirates’ brother.
They stated on Wednesday that the transaction, which was done in stablecoin, a cryptocurrency that is based on actual assets, represents the biggest investment ever made in cryptocurrency.
“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).
The largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, Binance, is being investigated in France on suspicion of not fulfilling its duties to manage consumers’ money.
Binance failed to stop transactions by groups such the Islamic State group, Al-Qaeda, or the armed branch of Hamas, according to examinations conducted by two US Treasury agencies.
Binance agreed to pay $4.3 billion to settle charges after its founder, Changpeng Zhao, who was born in China, entered a guilty plea to breaking US anti-money laundering rules last year.
