Abu Dhabi headquartered, Soter Insure, a provider of specialized digital asset insurance products tailored to the digital asset economy, has closed its Series A funding round, led by Galaxy, with participation from Brevan Howard Digital, Karatage, Token Bay, Pharsalus and others.

Soter headquartered in Abu Dhabi also operates out of Bermuda, with offices in London, New York and Dubai, it was also incubated by UAE based Further Ventures and WebN Group.

The company offers specialized digital asset insurance products for financial institutions, including Asset Loss, Directors & Officers (D&O), and Smart Contract Failure coverage, uniquely denominated in both fiat and native digital assets.

The company as such offers comprehensive insurance solutions tailored to the unique risks of decentralized technologies.

As per the press release, the investment will support Soter Insure’s expansion, bolstering its underwriting and technology teams to scale operations across key markets.

“Our mission at Soter is to set a new standard for risk management in the digital assets space. We are proud to have the support of Galaxy and our other Series A investors as we work to build innovative insurance products that meet the unique needs of the market. With this funding, we’ll continue to expand our offerings and grow our footprint globally, providing clients with trusted and transparent risk management solutions,” said Henson Orser, Founder and CEO of Soter Insure.

Mike Novogratz, Founder and CEO of Galaxy, added, “Galaxy is excited to support Soter Insure in their mission to bring innovative insurance solutions to the digital asset ecosystem. Their tailored approach to risk management meets a crucial industry need, empowering digital asset holders and operators with confidence. We are excited to contribute to their growth and global expansion.”

UAE investors and consumers were officially warned about investing in memecoins by Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) given the risks associated with advertisements promoting subscriptions to memecoins.

The UAE virtual asset regulator noted that memecoins are unregulated and highly risky in nature. The crypto regulator noted memecoins are highly speculative and volatile assets, frequently subject to market manipulation.

The regulator also stated that these memecoins lack intrinsic value and derive their pricing from social media trends, hype or misleading promotional strategies.

As such investors should exercise caution when presented with claims of unrealistic returns, as these often indicate fraudulent schemes.
There is a risk of significant financial loss within short timeframes due to price collapses, liquidity shortages, or scams.

Moreover VARA added that any virtual asset issuance from Dubai must ensure adherence with VARA Regulations and Rulebooks.
Any promotion, advertising, or solicitation of virtual assets must adhere to VARA’s Marketing Regulations.
Entities engaging in unauthorized virtual asset activities may be subject to enforcement action.

These memecoin platform may also be restricted without prior notice.

Founded by Hussein Ahmed originally from Egypt, Limited, a next-generation fintech startup offering stablecoin-based premium global banking services, has raised a $3 million pre-seed funding round led by Third Prime, with participation from The House Fund and Arche Capital.

As per the press release, the company, aims to transform how businesses and consumers worldwide interact with money by merging the best of crypto technology with the familiarity of traditional banking—minus the institutional vulnerabilities seen in failing banks or centralized exchanges.
Stablecoins have seen meteoric growth in recent years, with on-chain transaction volumes exceeding $12 trillion in 2024, far outpacing major payment networks like Visa. By placing assets in self-custody wallets, Limited users retain complete control of their funds—safeguarding them from the risks of bank collapses or platform failures.

“We believe financial services, while sometimes perceived as boring or soulless, are deeply personal,” said Hussein Ahmed, Limited’s founder and CEO. “Money is a huge part of our lives—both for businesses and individuals—and should be managed thoughtfully and elegantly. We took the best aspects of stablecoins—speed, low cost, self-custody—and merged them with a user experience similar to, and even better than, traditional banks, so our customers can stay protected, enjoy global access, and avoid the pitfalls of failed institutions.”

Third Prime, a New York and Nashville-based venture capital firm whose portfolio includes prominent fintech and crypto players like Circle, Chime, Octane, Kafene and Yellow Card led the $3 million round.

Its Co-founder and General Partner, Wes Barton, underscored the timing, “Limited’s unique approach—secure self-custody stablecoins, global banking accessibility, and a frictionless user experience—aligns perfectly with our thesis that the future of finance is decentralized, trusted, and user-centric. We have seen Hussein’s track record in building great products, and we’re convinced Limited can reshape global financial services.”

Co-leading the round with Third Prime is The House Fund, a UC Berkeley–focused venture firm founded by Jeremy Fiance—who was also an early investor in Hussein’s previous venture, Oxygen—alongside other prominent crypto and FinTech founders. Hussein originally founded Oxygen and grew it to over one million accounts. While Oxygen focused on the U.S. market leveraging traditional banking rails, Limited takes that vision a step further by integrating stablecoins and self-custody into the day-to-day global banking experience.

“We’ve witnessed Hussein’s drive to simplify complex finance solutions throughout his time at UC Berkeley Haas and with Oxygen,” said Jeremy. “Limited brings accessibility, security, and speed to a global audience.” The House Fund has also backed leading AI and FinTech infrastructure innovators, including Databricks, Perplexity, and Flexport.

Arche Capital, backed by major LPs with a focus on the intersection of crypto and fintech, also participated in the raise.

“Limited combines stability, transparency, and practical innovation to solve a critical challenge in global finance,” said Vanessa Grellet. “While many solutions remain fragmented and complicated, Limited stands out by making cross-border transactions faster, more affordable, and truly self-directed,” added William Wolf.

Inspired in part by the American Express model, Limited offers premium Visa and MasterCard options worldwide, their own, spanning White, Silver, and Gold tiers, and also enables co-branded card programs for brands seeking a global footprint. This approach lets partners easily design, launch, and fully manage customized cards that significantly boost customer engagement and loyalty—unlike typical co-branded offerings that are restricted to local or regional deployments.

Limited caters to high-end users. The Limited Gold Card comes with 24/7 global concierge services, exclusive perks like complimentary breakfasts at luxury hotels (including the Ritz-Carlton and Mandarin Oriental), free rental days at Hertz, and top-tier travel experiences that rival the best in the market. Simultaneously, the company supports instant, near-zero-fee cross-border payments in over 140 countries, using more than 300 local payment methods (such as WeChat, Pix, SPEI, GrabPay, and others) across 80 currencies.

Limited operates globally—excluding sanctioned and restricted jurisdictions—and aims to position itself as the go-to solution for businesses, entrepreneurs, and individual customers seeking a stable and efficient alternative to conventional banking.

While the UAE Central Bank has made it clear that crypto cannot be used as a legal tender for the purchase of goods and services inside the country, while AED stablecoins can be, real estate investors and buyers can still utilize cryptocurrencies for real estate purchases with Klickl and IMKAN Properties which has 26 properties across two continents.

Klickl, the Web3 financial platform out of the UAE, will be able to help IMKAN offer international investors with secure, fast and flaxible options of alternative payments in high value sector such as real estate. Klickl will offer cryptocurrency payment processing system.

“Our collaboration with IMKAN aligns with our mission to extend the benefits of Web3 technologies into everyday business transactions,” said Michael Zhao, CEO of Klickl. “From cross-border remittances to real estate investments, digital currencies offer an unmatched level of convenience, transparency, and efficiency. By supporting IMKAN’s customers with both crypto payment acceptance and fiat conversion, we are creating a model that other real estate companies can adopt to attract a new generation of buyers.” He went on to say.

The collaboration will allow IMKAN to offer its clients the option of converting cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins like USDT for use to invest in premium real estate . With these options, both local and international buyers gain greater flexibility, avoiding the complexities and delays that often come with cross-border bank conversions.

One of the key drivers behind this initiative is the increasing number of international investors in UAE real estate. The ability to use digital currencies for conversion will streamline transactions for overseas buyers, especially those in emerging markets or regions with less-developed banking infrastructure.

“Crypto is more than a payment method—it’s a financial tool that enables us to operate more efficiently across borders,” Zhao explained. “Our goal with IMKAN is to offer this technology to its customers in a way that enhances liquidity and supports business continuity, providing real estate developers with the financial stability they need to grow.”

Klickl’s platform will be offered seamlessly with IMKAN’s existing sales and payment systems. Buyers will experience a straightforward process where cryptocurrency payments can be made through a secure platform, and all necessary regulatory checks will be conducted automatically.

Klickl will ensure that all transactions are compliant with UAE regulations. From Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols to anti-money laundering (AML) compliance, the platform incorporates best-in-class security features to protect both IMKAN and its clients.

“We are committed to maintaining the highest levels of security and compliance,” Zhao emphasized. “Every transaction will go through rigorous checks to ensure it meets regulatory standards, so our partners and their customers can transact with confidence.”

The long-term vision includes expanding the use of digital finance tools across IMKAN’s full range of projects, from luxury residential developments to large-scale commercial properties.

“The UAE is rapidly emerging as a major crypto hub driven by the region’s welcoming regulatory environment and its proactive approach to supporting the digital asset sector. As one of the nation’s leading real estate developers, IMKAN is proud to play a decisive role in revolutionizing real estate transactions by embracing cryptocurrency for property investments. Together with Klickl, we are helping to ensure that the UAE will remain a leader and not a follower in digital currency proliferation,” said Engineer Suwaidan Al Dhaheri, CEO of IMKAN Properties.

“This collaboration demonstrates how blockchain and digital assets can bring real value to traditional industries,” said Zhao. “It’s not just about following trends; it’s about using these technologies to solve real-world challenges and unlock new opportunities. We see the potential for this model to reshape not only real estate but also other sectors where high value transactions are common.”

UAE regulated digital asset service provider and custodian, Komainu, licensed by VARA Dubai, and backed by Laser Digital, a Nomura company, has raised $75 million in strategic investment from Blockstream Capital Partners (“Blockstream”) in Bitcoin. The raise is subject to relevant regulatory approvals.

As per the press release, the funding enables the company to accelerate its international strategic growth plans whilst adopting and integrating class-leading technologies developed by Blockstream Corporation Inc (“Blockstream Corp”), to maximize efficiencies and enhance client services in collateral management and tokenization.

The funding transaction itself is funded in Bitcoin with appropriate hedging and risk management and Komainu establishing its own Bitcoin Treasury to manage the Bitcoin provided by Blockstream.

Blockstream Corp’s Liquid Network will enable Komainu to dramatically cut the time for its off-exchange margining & settlement solution, Komainu Connect, from hours to minutes, becoming class-leading in the process. Blockstream Corp’s AMP technology will enable Komainu to automate its regulated asset support for tokenization and develop trustless trading solutions. The company will also integrate other technologies and services developed by Blockstream Corp, including its enterprise HSM wallet, in order to provide institutional clients with a broader range of bank-grade digital asset services.

To solidify the strategic partnership between the two entities, Adam Back, PeterPaul Pardi and Nicolas Brand will join Komainu’s board of directors.

Adam Back, CEO Blockstream Corp, commented “We are delighted that Komainu is adopting Blockstream’s various technology streams to enhance its institutional service offering. This is testament to the fundamental veracity of Bitcoin-related technologies and applications and marks the first time that these have entered the institutional arena. I am confident this will be the first of many such use cases as the institutional community wakes up to the power of the Lightning and Liquid Networks.”

Paul Frost-Smith, Co-CEO at Komainu, and who also joins Komainu’s board of directors, said, “At Komainu, our mission is to empower the digital asset ecosystem by offering secure, compliant, and innovative digital asset services. This partnership with Blockstream will transform the services we are able to offer and enhance our customer experience on many levels. Having a closely-aligned technology partner like Blockstream, one of the original visionaries in the digital assets ecosystem, is testament to our determination to become the go-to provider of digital asset services for Bitcoin and the institutional market, as well as increasing institutional adoption.”

PeterPaul Pardi, Director, Blockstream Corp, commented “This partnership with Komainu, backed by Nomura’s Laser Digital, is a landmark moment for the adoption of Bitcoin-related technology by a bank-built, regulated financial services business. It showcases the institutional use-cases for Bitcoin as demand reaches new highs. We are delighted that Komainu has chosen to implement Blockstream’s technology and we anticipate even wider uses for it in the institutional investor community over coming months”

Robert Johnson, Co-CEO & CTO at Komainu, said, “Integrating Blockstream’s technologies will significantly enhance and diversify our underlying core technology stacks. At Komainu we believe in offering our clients a wide choice of technology options and this partnership with Blockstream will maximize efficiencies and lower latencies across the various services that we offer. “

Further Ventures, a private equity fund in Abu Dhabi UAE, has led a $16 million investment Series A round in French digital asset wallet and custodian developer, DFNS, DFNS, which was launched in 2020, and has operations both in Paris and New York aims to compete against FireBlocks and Ledger.

Using the funds raised both in 2022, $12 million and that raises now $16 million, the startup plans to accelerate its development to meet requirements of financial institutions.

This deal was led by Further Ventures, which is a private equity fund based in Abu Dhabi. Other historical investors, such as White Star Capital, Hashed, Semantic, Techstars and Bpifrance also participated in the round.

“This deal validates both our product and our focus on fintechs and financial players,” explains Clarisse Hagège, co-founder and CEO of DFNS, which claims more than 130 customers including Fidelity, Zodia Custody (Standard Chartered’s crypto subsidiary) and Stripe, which has just acquired Bridge.

DFNS developed a wallet creation solution based on MPC (Multi-Party Computation) technology. This MPC technology breaks down the access keys to the digital wallet into fragments; these are then distributed across different secure universes. Using an API system, the startup allows developers to take bricks and create their own wallet system.

“We allow our customers to deploy their own instances on public clouds like AWS, private clouds, and connect their Thales or IBM HSMs to our blockchain transaction management system,” explains Clarisse Hagège

Als in terms of pricing , while not all offers are the same, the startup offers a billing system based on usage and not on volumes under management.

UAE Future Ventures has already invested in several digital asset service providers including Soter Insure, a provider of insurance products tailored to the digital asset economy licensed by VARA in the UAE, as well as QCP, a global digital asset trading firm, Fuze, a digital assets infrastructure provider, TwinStake, Tungsten, Kemet trading, and others.

The Hashgraph Association, a Swiss non-profit, driving the global adoption of Hedera-powered solutions by funding innovation, training, and venture programs, was one of the first blockchain technology groups to participate in Saudi Arabia’s deep tech strategy, a strategy which seems to be paying off based on a recent report by the Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information technology, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and Hello Tomorrow Consultancy.

The Deep Tech report published on January 7th 2025, notes that in 2025, nearly 50% of homegrown deep tech startups in KSA are specializing in AI (Artificial Intelligence) and the Internet of Things (IoT). While the number of scale-ups has reached 43 companies contributing to driving innovation.

The Deep Technology Report presents a roadmap for making Saudi Arabia a global deep tech hub and highlights the different initiatives that support the Kingdom in realizing the objectives of Vision 2030.

As per the report, the deep tech startup ecosystem is still in its infancy and is relatively modest in size when compared to the overall startup landscape with room for expansion. Currently there are 43 deep tech startups in the overall 1,000 startups in the country.

Deep tech startups raised over US$100 million between 2020 and 2022. The Kingdom has also seen a rise in the number of incubators and accelerators that offer deep tech verticals.

$250 million investment in Deep Tech studio with Saudi Ministry of Investment

One of those deep tech incubators and accelerators is The Hashgraph Association’s which was launched in February 2024. The Switzerland based Hashgraph Association signed a strategic partnership with the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia (MISA) to launch a Deep Tech Venture Studio in Riyadh, worth $250 million over the next five years.

The studio would focus on the convergence of Web3, AI and technologies such as distributed ledger technology (DLT), virtual reality, robotics, and quantum computing, helping to launch 500 new companies over the 2024-2028 period.

The Hashgraph Association and its DeepTech Venture Studio will enable local Saudi companies, as well as international portfolio companies seeking to establish operations in the Kingdom, to develop innovative solutions, leveraging deep tech such as AI, DLT, Robotics, IoT, VR, and Quantum Computing, all of which are key as per the Deep Tech report from MCIT.

KSA seeks to attract $7.9 billion in foreign investment and $12.5 billion in local for AI

KSA’s goal is to attract $7.9 billion in cumulative foreign direct investment (FDI) and $12.15 billion from local markets in data and AI by 2030. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also saw the addition of 104 active investors in 2024 with a 75% increase in the number of researchers since 2015. The report highlights that Saudi Arabia is expanding its research infrastructure to accommodate 140,000 researchers by 2030, a sevenfold increase from the current 20,000 researchers in the country.

Mohammed Robayan, Deputy Minister of Technology at MCIT, stressed that this report represents an important step in strengthening the Kingdom’s position as a global hub for advanced technologies, and that the Kingdom seeks by focusing on innovation and investing in competencies and infrastructure, to build an integrated system that supports digital transformation and sustainable development.

Robayan called on those interested in the public and private sectors, especially academia and investors, to avail of this information to draw a roadmap that promotes innovation and contributes to realizing the goals of Saudi Vision 2030.

Data Centers are Key to Deep Tech Strategy

In 2021 Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology announced new plans to ramp up national data center investment to $18 billion, with a goal to surpass capacity of 1,300-megawatts by 2030. Since the launch, numerous investment groups, infrastructure developers and global hyperscalers have announced plans for new data center and cloud regions in the Kingdom committing billions of dollars in investment.

These datacenters will need energy and not any energy, sustainable efficient energy sources. This is why HODLER INVESTMENTS, a UAE based investment company, headquartered in Dubai, which includes in its portfolio energy, AI, and digital asset mining startups such as PermianChain, Brox Equity and others; and Abu Dhabi’s EHC Investment which leads multiple businesses with operations and investments across the energy, infrastructure, firefighting technology and system integration services signed a strategic partnership to launch NEXGEN.

NEXGEN will support the creation of a compliant digital energy market to supply critical energy infrastructure that will monetize wasted energy such as flared gas in the UAE, KSA, and Egypt with the aim of hosting global data center operators, reducing carbon emissions and contributing to the Digital Energy Infrastructure (DEI) Fund, a local decarbonization innovation fund.

After UAE Varys Capital led a Pre- seed raise for Blockchain L2 platform developer Movement Labs in 2023 where the startup raised $3.4 million. This week Movement Labs announced it was raising $100 million in a series B funding round which led to a valuation of $6 billion.

The recent funding round is being led by CoinFund and Brevan Howard’s digital asset arm Nova Fund.

Movement Labs will use the new capital for product enhancements, and expansion into the Asia Pacific market. Movement is redefining the blockchain ecosystem as an EVM-compatible Layer 2 solution built on the Ethereum network. It utilizes the innovative Move programming language, designed to enhance scalability, security, and flexibility, ensuring high-performance decentralized applications.

Prior to the Series B funding round, Movement Labs had also raised $38 million in a Series A round led by Polychain.

In a LinkedIn post Varys Capital noted that UAE MBS Global Investments were early supporters of their fund which had invested in Movement Labs. Varys Capital stated, “We’re honored to not only have you on our cap table, but seeing the blossoming partnership between our two entities taking shape and broadening our collective reach.”

MBS Global Investments is the investment arm of the Private Office of Sheikh Nayef Bin Eid Al Thani, with headquarters in Dubai UAE.

MBS Global Investments prior to that had noted on LinkedIn, “MBS Global Investments proudly congratulates our partner, Varys Capital on their successful pre-seed investment in Movement Labs (MOVE), a pioneering project that has just achieved a major milestone. The recent Token Generation Event (TGE) for MOVE was a resounding success, with the token reaching an extraordinary fully diluted valuation surpassing $6 billion. This remarkable achievement has already captured the attention of the global crypto community, with MOVE being listed on all major exchanges, including Binance.”

MBS also noted that they would continue to support this venture. They stated, “We are excited to continue supporting this transformative venture and looks forward to the significant impact MOVE will have on the future of decentralized finance and blockchain technology.”

Varys Capital and FundRock create Master Fund in ADGM

In April 2024, Varys Capital (“Varys”) partnered with FundRock Investment Management Services (ME) Ltd (“FundRock”), a fund management company, licensed by the FSRA, to manage a feeder fund, that would invest its assets into a Master Fund with a mandate centered around blockchain, Web3 and infrastructure. The entity is named the Varys Capital Ventures (CEIC) Limited in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM).

Varys Capital has also invested in another layer 2 blockchain called MintLayer n that utilizes Dynamic Slot Allocation (DSA) consensus merging Proof-Of-Stake and Bitcoin technologies to make decentralized financial markets attack-proof. MintLayer has planned to launch it mainnet on January 29th 2024 and work to tokenize real-estate assets starting from Dubai UAE.

The Varys Capital portfolio is currently heavily focused on decentralized financing (DeFi) related platforms and services.

Saudi Sanabil Investments, a wholly owned company by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), and Orbit Startups have launched a new accelerator program aimed to invest in tech, Web3, healthcare and mobility.

Sanabil Accelerator by Orbit aims to support early-stage startups from Saudi Arabia and the MENA region as well as global startups seeking to expand into the region, according to a press release. The program will focus on key sectors, including fintech, healthcare, e-commerce, mobility, and logistics, among others.

Startups will receive an initial investment of $100,000 and access to follow-on funding. They will participate in an in-person market orientation in Riyadh and receive hands-on support from Orbit’s network of partners, mentors and investors.

William Bao Bean, Managing General Partner of Orbit Startups, commented, “Our partnership with Sanabil reinforces our commitment to scaling startups cross-border in the MENA region. This partnership will support startups as they scale beyond their home markets, positioning them to grow in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and across the MENA region through 2030 and beyond.”

“Partnering with Orbit, we are committed to empowering early-stage startups across diverse sectors including technology, healthcare, web3 and mobility,” a spokesperson at Sanabil Investments highlighted.

UAE DAMAC Properties CEO, Hussain Sajwani, a close business partner of the Trump family will invest $20 billion in US datacenters used for AI ( Artificial Intelligence) and crypto. President-elect Donald Trump announced the $20 billion investment for data centers in the United States on January 7th 2025.

Trump said at a news conference that he believed Sajwani made the commitment because “he was very inspired by the election and wouldn’t do it without the election.” The president-elect emphasized his plans to get investments of $1 billion or more through the environmental regulatory review process quickly.

Sajwani briefly joined the news conference and said: “It’s been amazing news for me and my family when he was elected in November.”

Sajwani’s promised investment feeds into an existing boom for constructing data centers used in the development of artificial intelligence and expansion of cryptocurrency, as well as in other elements of an increasingly digital economy that relies on having greater sources of computer processing power.

In October, the financial company Blackstone estimated that the U.S. would see $1 trillion invested in data centers over five years, with another $1 trillion being committed internationally.

Sajwani would gain data centers in the United States, which thus far have not been part of his company’s EDGNEX data center portfolio. According to the company’s website, it already has or plans to build data centers in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Spain, Thailand and Indonesia.

Investment in datacenters globally and in the Middle East is growing. It is estimated that global spending on construction of new data centers is expected to surpass US$49 billion by 2030 (source: MicKinsey & Company). With over US$1.0 trillion funding gap in renewable energy, it is believed to be an opportune time to lay the groundwork to power the advancement of compute infrastructure for a vibrant digital economy.

Recently HODLER INVESTMENTS, a UAE based investment company, headquartered in the Dubai, which includes in its portfolio energy, AI, and digital asset mining startups such as PermianChain, Brox Equity and others; and Abu Dhabi’s EHC Investment which leads multiple businesses with operations and investments across the energy, infrastructure, firefighting technology and system integration services signed a strategic partnership to launch NEXGEN.

NEXGEN will support the creation of a compliant digital energy market to supply critical energy infrastructure that will monetize wasted energy such as flared gas in the UAE, KSA, and Egypt with the aim of hosting global data center operators, reducing carbon emissions and contributing the Digital Energy Infrastructure (DEI) Fund, a local decarbonization innovation fund.