Original | Odaily Planet Daily ( @OdailyChina )
Author: Azuma ( @azuma_eth )
On the evening of March 12, a blockbuster news about Binance’s financing quickly set off the industry.
Binance officially announced that it has reached a $2 billion investment agreement with MGX, an Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence and advanced technology investment company, and MGX will acquire a minority stake in Binance . This investment is the first institutional investment received by Binance so far, and it is also the largest single financial investment in the history of cryptocurrency, and may be the largest investment ever paid in cryptocurrency (stablecoin).
Who exactly is MGX? Why is it so wealthy and able to invest in a company as big as Binance?
There is very little public information on the MGX official website, but from these few announcements, we can clearly get the specific background of the organization.
According to official information, MGX was established on January 22, 2024 and is positioned as a technology investment company focused on accelerating the development and adoption of AI and advanced technologies by establishing world-leading partnerships in the United Arab Emirates and around the world. MGX focuses on investing in areas where AI can provide value and economic impact on a large scale, including semiconductors, infrastructure, software, technology-enabled services, life sciences, and physical AI.
But that’s not the point.
Official information mentioned that the chairman of the board of directors of MGX is Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan (hereinafter referred to as Tahnoun), who is also the Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the UAE Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technology Committee (AIATC).
From another perspective, the identity of Sheikh Tahnoun Zayed Al Nahyan can be explained more clearly. He is the son of Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-nahayan, the founding father of the UAE and the founding president, and the younger brother of the current president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (hereinafter referred to as Mohammed).
Bloomberg described Tahnoun in a report in 2024 : He manages more than $1.5 trillion in state-owned assets and private funds, and for any fund manager or financial person, meeting him (even for only 10 minutes) would be a huge opportunity.
In terms of execution, MGXs CEO is Ahmed Yahia Al Idrissi, who previously served as CEO of the direct investment platform of another UAE state-owned investment company, MUBADALA, and has more than 30 years of experience in operations and investments.
According to the information, Mubadala and another UAE state-owned company G42 were the basic partners when MGX was first established. Wikipedia gave a more straightforward explanation that MGX was jointly initiated by these two entities, and the chairmen of the boards of directors of these two institutions were Mohammed and Tahnoun.
In short, MGX is a thorough UAE sovereign investment institution, backed by one of the richest families in the Middle East and even the entire planet.
In addition, the few official announcements from MGX also mentioned the cooperative relationship between MGX and several giant players such as BlackRock, Microsoft, and GIP.
More details about this financing are still to be disclosed, but according to Binance’s official announcement, Binance’s current CEO Richard Teng previously served as CEO of the Abu Dhabi Financial Services Regulatory Authority, and may have played a key role in this financing.
In short, with the completion of this round of financing, Binance’s compliance process in the Middle East market will open a new chapter.
Since Binance was founded in 2017, this startup born in the emerging market of cryptocurrency has grown rapidly with the cryptocurrency market into a giant that cannot be ignored by the mainstream world.
An old era has quietly come to an end, but a new era has already begun.
