Animoca Brands said on November 2 that its subsidiary Animoca Asset Management (AD) Limited has received a Financial Services Permission from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). The permission authorizes the unit to carry out the regulated activity of managing a collective investment fund in or from ADGM.
The announcement did not name a fund or give a target size, investor base or launch date. Animoca described the permission as extending its institutional capabilities and supporting its Middle East expansion, and linked it to a broader mandate that includes institutional blockchain infrastructure, tokenized assets and the integration of agentic AI with Web3.
Minh Do, senior executive officer and director of the unit, called the permission a critical milestone for Animoca's operations in the Middle East, one that lets it manage funds under a regulated framework and connect institutional capital with digital assets. Arvind Ramamurthy, ADGM's chief market development officer, welcomed Animoca and said its move into fund management strengthens the links between institutional capital and digital assets in the zone.
The FSRA's public register lists the permission as number 250097, effective October 13, 2026 and, in practice, the permission covers investment management, and a separate regulated custodian would hold the assets.
UAE custody options have been growing to serve managers in that position. We covered one example when Zodia Custody completed its acquisition of UAE custodian Tungsten .
Animoca received in-principle approval from the FSRA in November 2025, which came with conditions it had to meet before it could run funds.
This is Animoca's second UAE regulatory footprint. We reported in February that Animoca had secured a Dubai virtual asset licence from VARA authorizing broker-dealer and investment services in the emirate. ADGM reported that assets under management rose 54% year on year in the first half of 2026, with 190 fund and asset managers and 276 funds. Binance received full authorization in Abu Dhabi last December.
The permission is the latest in a run of regulated steps for Animoca in the Middle East and Asia. In Hong Kong, Animoca is a shareholder in Anchorpoint, the joint venture with Standard Chartered and HKT that formed to pursue a stablecoin licence . Blockhead reported in August that its token HKDAP started moving real money in a controlled first phase.
The Abu Dhabi permission arrives as Animoca's route to a US listing is on hold. Blockhead reported the plan in November 2025, when Animoca announced a reverse merger with Nasdaq-listed Currenc Group . On September 22, the two companies suspended the merger, citing the closing timeline and market conditions. Reports at the time said Animoca still had audited accounts to complete, and executive chairman Yat Siu said the company would keep pursuing routes to a public listing. The November 2 announcement does not mention the listing.
The next disclosures would be an actual fund: its strategy, the investors it can accept, its custody arrangements and its size. Until then, the permission is a regulatory credential rather than a business line. It shows Animoca is building the licensed structure that institutions ask for, and the first fund will show how much of that capital it can attract.
