Binance made cryptocurrency history in the UAE last year and has begun 2026 by again making its mark on the global stage.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by users and trading volume closed a successful 2025 when the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of ADGM - the international financial centre of Abu Dhabi - formally approved authorisation of Binance’s global platform, Binance.com, under a comprehensive regulatory framework.
This global first represented a major step in Binance’s mission to create the world’s most trusted and compliant digital-asset ecosystem.
The platform began operating ADGM-regulated activities on January 5, cementing Binance’s position at the forefront of regulatory progress in digital finance.
The landmark move also reinforced the UAE’s emergence as a global hub for innovation in financial services, supported by clear regulatory pathways and a deep talent base.
The FSRA license offers Binance credibility and seamless access across multiple markets. The comprehensive approval covers Binance.com via three separate regulated entities operating within ADGM, namely Nest Exchange Limited, Nest Clearing and Custody Limited, and Nest Trading Limited.
Richard Teng, Binance co-chief executive, said this reflected his organisation’s deep commitment to compliance, transparency, and user protection. “ADGM is one of the most respected financial regulators globally, and holding an FSRA license under their gold standard framework shows Binance meets the highest international standards for compliance, governance, risk management, and consumer protection.“ This license provides regulatory clarity and legitimacy, enabling Binance to support its global operations from ADGM.”
With more than 300 million registered users globally and more than $125 trillion in cumulative trading volume, Binance continues to lead digital asset ecosystem evolution by building a secure, transparent, and fully compliant infrastructure.
ADGM’s robust financial services regime ensures Binance users benefit from high standards of oversight and consumer protection as the platform scales into its next phase of institutional and retail adoption.
UAE leading by example
The positive sentiment is echoed by The UAE Blockchain Ecosystem, as The Blockchain Centre Abu Dhabi has released today a report highlighting the UAE’s transition from blockchain experimentation to regulated, large-scale deployment across finance, governance, and public-sector efficiency.
The report credits the UAE’s layered regulatory framework for enabling institutional adoption in payments, tokenisation, custody, and market infrastructure, embedding blockchain as foundational economic infrastructure. As part of this initiative, The Blockchain Centre Abu Dhabi has collaborated with Binance as a co-author, recognising Binance’s evolution from a global crypto exchange to a core provider of institutional-grade digital asset infrastructure globally and within the UAE’s regulatory environment.
The UAE has transitioned from blockchain experimentation to large-scale execution characterised by regulatory clarity and institutional adoption, exemplified by live, regulated use cases such as a national digital identity infrastructure serving 11 million users, multiple DFSA- and FSRA-approved stablecoins, a central bank digital currency pilot with first transactions completed, and plans to tokenise $4 billion in real estate assets.
This progress is set within a vast payments environment, with domestic systems processing more than Dh20 trillion in transfers during the first ten months of 2025, and the country ranking among the top global sources of outbound remittances; 95 per cent of residents send international remittances annually, with 71 per cent of e-commerce payments made via cards or mobile wallets, and cross-border flows exceeding $40 billion each year.
The UAE’s blockchain ecosystem has matured from early startups to a dense institutional framework encompassing regulated exchanges, custodians, payment providers, tokenisation platforms, banks, and multinational tech firms. The collaborative environment between regulators, financial institutions, and technology providers enables meaningful blockchain deployments focused on regulation and long-term infrastructure, with global players like Binance increasingly operating within these regulated local markets.
Blockchain is now viewed as a critical national economic infrastructure comparable to telecommunications and railways, supported by sovereign capital managing over USD 2.5 trillion in assets, with key deployments including asset tokenisation, stablecoins, payments, wholesale settlement, and government services; notably, UAE Pass underpins digital identity with over 2.5 billion authentications.
Binance plays a significant role in this institutional framework as an ADGM FSRA-regulated entity, reflecting the UAE’s focus on compliant, large-scale digital asset infrastructure. In 2025, MGX’s $2 billion investment into Binance, facilitated via regulated stablecoin infrastructure, underscored the UAE’s commitment to advancing its digital financial ecosystem and enhancing its stature as a global hub for institutional-grade blockchain platforms.
The UAE is now a global benchmark for institutional blockchain infrastructure, highlighting how deliberate regulatory design and ecosystem coordination have enabled blockchain to be deployed as production-grade infrastructure rather than speculative technology.
This page was produced by The National in partnership with Binance
