ADGM-licensed M2 crypto platform rolls out services for investors

Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary said the digital assets exchange would rival the likes of FTX and Binance

The M2 crypto exchange is headed by (from left) Arash Saidi, chief legal officer; Stefan Kimmel, chief executive; Lynsey Copping, chief financial officer; and Andre Pemmelaar, chief product officer. Photo: M2Show less

Cryptocurrency exchange M2, which received a financial services permission from the Abu Dhabi Global Market in August, has rolled out its international platform for institutional and retail investors to buy, sell and hold custody of virtual assets.

The exchange has unveiled the M2 Earn product, which provides up to 10.5 per cent yield on Bitcoin and Ethereum, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Earn calculator in the app allows investors to calculate their investment yields over a preferred time frame, while the Smart Trading feature permits users to execute large buy and sell orders.

“The arrival of M2 gives institutional investors, family wealth offices and retail investors the invitation they have been looking for to confidently and securely invest in the fast-growing digital asset sector,” Stefan Kimmel, chief executive of M2, said.

“The first decade of crypto was marked by the introduction of Bitcoin and the highs and lows of a volatile asset class with a heavy focus on speculation.”

While M2 has obtained a licence from the Securities Commission of Bahamas as a digital assets business, the ADGM has licensed the group’s subsidiaries M2 Limited and M2 Custody Limited to operate as a multilateral trading facility and for providing custody.

M2 has also applied for licences in other jurisdictions globally, according to the statement.

The exchange got a shoutout from millionaire Canadian businessman and Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary. He recently told Fox Business: “This hasn’t been announced yet but in Abu Dhabi, they are planning to launch a new exchange to replace both FTX and Binance, and they’re going to get billions [of dollars] on it, called M2.

“[It is going to be] totally compliant, backed by billions of dollars, incredibly stable, ownership transparency and it can be used by anybody in the world legitimately on a compliant basis …

“It’s going to become the new standard in exchanges because you can’t hold Bitcoin without an exchange for liquidity.”

Mr O’Leary was paid about $15 million to be an ambassador and spokesman for crypto exchange FTX. He estimates to have lost $9.1 million when FTX collapsed.

He said the emergence of Abu Dhabi as a competitor in the crypto space should serve as a wake-up call to US lawmakers and regulators.

“[Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Gary] Gensler has sued Coinbase, the largest [crypto exchange] in the US, which is why Fidelity and BlackRock were there on the Hill. [They] were really unhappy because they can’t do their ETF [exchange-traded fund],” he said.

Meanwhile, the M2 platform will offer the MMX token to users to access products and services within the exchange, according to the statement.

M2 plans to make the MMX token available on both centralised and decentralised secondary marketplaces and it will be freely transferable on the Ethereum blockchain.

“The token’s primary purpose is to enhance users’ experience of the M2 ecosystem and is not intended to serve as an investment vehicle or represent an ownership stake in M2,” the exchange said.

“These tokens can be exchanged for other virtual assets and fiat currency.”

Canadian businessman Kevin O'Leary said the emergence of Abu Dhabi as a big competitor in the crypto space should serve as a wake-up call to US lawmakers and regulators. EPA

In recent years, the UAE has emerged as a global centre for virtual assets.

In March last year, Dubai adopted the Dubai Virtual Asset Regulation Law, which aims to create an advanced legal framework to protect investors and provide international standards for virtual asset industry governance that promotes responsible business growth in the emirate.

It also established the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority as an independent body to regulate the sector throughout the emirate, including special development zones and free zones, but excluding the Dubai International Financial Centre.

Last September, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority, the regulator of the ADGM, published guiding principles on its approach to virtual asset regulation and supervision to outline its expectations for the asset class and service providers in the sector.

The principles will complement ADGM’s regulatory framework for spot virtual asset activities, the financial regulator said at the time.