United Arab Emirates sovereign wealth fund with $243 billion under management wants to invest in cryptocurrency

Source, in Dutch

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Khaldoon Al-Mubarak, CEO of state-owned Mubadala Investment Capital, speaks positively about cryptocurrencies in an interview with CNBC. Indeed, he claims that with $243 billion under management, the fund is ready to invest in the cryptocurrency ecosystem:

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'From our perspective, we are looking at the ecosystem around cryptocurrencies. I think we can invest in this ecosystem. We can do that in blockchain technology, energy consumption, and so on.'

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'Technology is real'

You may have seen the name Khaldoon al-Mubarak come up before, as he is also the chairman of English soccer club Manchester City. The CEO of Mubadala Investment Captital does not consider himself a crypto skeptic. In fact, he says the technology is "real.

He refers to the rapid growth of the overall crypto market from $250 billion to $3 trillion in just a few years. In the interview with CNBC:

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'Many people are skeptical. I'm not in that category. I see this as real.'

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Not the first investment in crypto

Incidentally, this is not the first time the organization has invested in the crypto ecosystem. In 2019, Mubadala Investment Capital invested in MidChains, the first regulated crypto exchange in the United Arab Emirates. That exchange offers about five popular crypto currencies.

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When it comes to regulation of cryptocurrencies in the United Arab Emirates, Khaldoon al-Mubarak says the country is not quite ready for it. He believes that these regulations will have to evolve at some point. That way, cryptocurrency will be able to transition into "something new" as an asset class.

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The United Arab Emirates does not view bitcoin and cryptocurrency as legal tender. The country's financial watchdog did sign an agreement in September to allow crypto trading in Dubai's World Trade Center. In that regard, you can tentatively conclude that the Arab country is starting to warm up to cryptocurrencies.