The UAE government, through investments in crypto mining entities such as Citadel Mining invested in by sovereign wealth funds such as IHC Holding, which is 61% owned by IHC UAE Royal Group, and also through Phoenix Group a publicly listed company on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange have made significant investments in Bitcoin. While Citadel Mining holds more than $700 million, Phoenix Group is also labelled on the Arkham platform and holds $3.2M of BTC.
On Arkham, the UAE has become the 4th largest government with Bitcoin holdings worth almost $740 million.
According to Arkham X post, ” Unlike the US and UK, the UAE’s holdings do not come from police asset seizures but from mining operations with Citadel Mining. So far, they have mined approximately 9,300 BTC and are still holding at least approximately 6,300 BTC.”
Citadel Mining is 85% owned by 2pointzero, which is 100% owned by IHC. IHC is ~61% owned by UAE Royal Group, which is a conglomerate owned by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, of Abu Dhabi’s royal family.
In conjunction with Phoenix Group a blockchain and crypto mining company and the UAE government-owned IHC, Citadel built an 80,000 square meter bitcoin mining facility on Al Reem Island in Abu Dhabi in 2022 in 6 months. Phoenix Group is also invested in M2 an Abu Dhabi based regulated crypto investment platform developed by industry leading experts to offer assertive investors real returns up to 10.5% on BTC and ETH.
Arkham was able to corroborate the timeline of on-chain mining activity with time-lapse satellite imagery of facility construction. On-chain transactions between Phoenix and Citadel also match amounts disclosed in official reports.
As such the UAE’s $700M BTC holdings are now labeled on Arkham. These holdings come from Bitcoin mining operations carried out by Citadel, a public mining company majority owned by UAE Royal Group through IHC.
Interestingly UAE sovereign wealth Fund Mubadala also has invested in Bitcoin, via BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF. Earlier this year Mubadala, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, disclosed a $408.5 million stake in IShare Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) in a 13F filing released on My 15th 2025. The fund reported holding 8,726,972 shares as of March 31, 2025, an increase from 8,235,533 shares reported at the end of 2024. This increased exposure showcases the perception change regarding Bitcoin and crypto in general after President Trump has taken office. Back at the end of 2024, UAE Mubadala, a sovereign investment fund, revealed in an SEC Filing that in late 2024 it invested $436 million worth in BlackRock’s Ishares Bitcoin Trust ETF. The disclosure was made through a 13F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
