Arabian Bourse receives eight-figure sum to set up crypto asset exchange

The company aims to be a fully regulated, first of its kind crypto asset exchange and custodian that focuses on global institutional and retail traders

FILE: A coin representing Bitcoin cryptocurrency sits reflected on a polished surface and photographed against a photo illustration of electronic data indicating stocks falling in this arranged photograph in London, U.K., on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018. The great cryptocurrency crash of 2018 is heading for its worst week yet. Bitcoin sank toward $4,000 and most of its peers tumbled on Friday, extending the Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index’s weekly decline to 25 percent. That’s the worst five-day stretch since crypto-mania peaked in early January. Photographer: Luke MacGregor/Bloomberg
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Arabian Bourse, a company looking to become a fully-regulated crypto asset exchange in Abu Dhabi, received a “double digit, multimillion dollar investment” from blockchain company, HBK-GoChain, the company said in a statement, without disclosing the exact amount of investment.

The company said in a statement that the investment “completes a significant milestone in the roadmap for the creation of a fully regulated, first-of-its-kind crypto asset exchange and custodian that focuses on global institutional and retail traders”.

“The strategic investment and partnership with HBK-GoChain is a major step in the development of Arabian Bourse,” said the exchange’s co-founder Arshad Khan.

Arabian Bourse was one of a number of crypo asset exchanges that received an in-principal approval from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Abu Dhabi Global Market in June. The company is a joint venture between digital business company GMEX Group and Mr Khan. It is looking to build a fully integrated ecosystem to become the preferred venue for crypto assets listing, trading and associated digital custody, depository and data services.

HBK-GoChain — a joint venture between HBK and GoChain — is a blockchain company chaired by Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Bin Mohammed. It was founded in 2017 and is a blockchain company specialising in serving supply chains, e-government, central bank digital currencies, payments and financial services.

“To be actively involved in these businesses and become the industry leader we invested in GoChain and followed up by investing in Arabian Bourse,” Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Bin Mohammed said in a statement. “These investments are very strategic to our group and we believe that Arabian Bourse with its well experienced founders is best placed to be our partners. As a definitive goal we would like to replicate this business model in other parts of the world.”