UAE Haifin, trade finance fraud platform announces $40.8 billion worth of transactions

UAE Haifin, trade finance fraud platform announces $40.8 billion worth of transactions

Haifin, previously known as UAE Trade Connect, an AI blockchain platform to combat trade finance fraud among the banking sector and non-banking sector, has announced a record-breaking year with nearly $40.8 billion of transactions (150 billion AED).

According to Zul Javaid, CEO of Haifan in a LinkedIn post, “ We identified and prevented hundreds of millions of Dirhams of duplicate financing and fraud for our member involved in lending.”

UAE Trade Connect (UTC), Launched in 2021, was co-created by e& enterprise and the UAE banking industry and offers a technology solution to detect suspicious transactions and prevent fraud and duplication in real time. It uses technologies such as AI, Blockchain and machine learning.

Juvaid added, “Big shout out to our steering committee and wider consortium for their trust and commitment to de-risking the lending environment and increasing accessibility to finance for the UAE economy.”

The members of Haifan platform include UAE Banks Federation, Al Masraf, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Commercial Bank International, Commercial Bank of Dubai, Dubai Islamic Bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), Habib Bank AG Zurich, Invest Bank, Mashreq Corporate & Investment Banking Group, National Bank of Fujairah, RAKBANK, Sharjah Islamic Bank, United Arab Bank, Beehive Fintech, CredibleX, DP World, and Finneva.

In December 2023, Beehive, a peer-to-peer lending platform, became the second non-banking entity to join Blockchain enabled UAE Trade Connect platform, Haifin. Priort to that, DP World Finance platform partnered with UAE trade Connect in November of the same year.

Zul Javaid expressed his interest in expanding Haifan offering to countries across the GCC and MENA regions, including KSA hiring Wissam Massud to lead their international expansion in 2023.

First Abu Dhabi Bank to use RWA tokens as collateral for stablecoin lending

First Abu Dhabi Bank to use RWA tokens as collateral for stablecoin lending

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), a leading UAE bank with asset of $335 billion, has partnered with UAE based Libre Capital to offer digital tokens as collateral for its blockchain based lending program.

As per the article in CoinDesk, the new initiative enables approved lenders to use real world asset (RWA) tokens as collateral for stablecoin lending. These tokens represent digitized versions of traditional investment products, including funds from established firms like Brevan Howard, Hamilton Lane, and BlackRock.

Libre Capital, which began operations in March 2024, has already issued approximately $150 million worth of tokenized assets. These include various investment vehicles, such as Brevan Howard funds, Hamilton Lane’s fixed-income products, and a BlackRock money-market fund.

The program operates across multiple blockchain networks, demonstrating its broad technological reach. These networks include Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, NEAR, Aptos, and Coinbase’s layer-2 network BASE, providing flexibility and accessibility for users.

The initiative falls under Libre’s “Project HODL,” which stands for High-Yield Optimized Decentralized Liquidity. This project aims to create new utility for assets under management through collateralized lending mechanisms.

Dr. Avtar Sehra, founder and CEO of Libre, explained the technical aspects of the program stating, “We’ve been working on adding utility to our AUM in the form of collateralized lending,” he said. “It’s an on-chain infrastructure that allows these RWAs to be used as collateral.”

The lending process operates exclusively in stablecoins rather than traditional fiat currency. T

Sameh Al Qubaisi, group head of global markets at FAB, emphasized the bank’s commitment to innovation through this initiative. The program includes automated processes designed to ensure proper risk management and regulatory compliance.

The partnership creates new opportunities for holders of crypto assets who want to use their tokens as collateral. This practice has become increasingly popular in the cryptocurrency space, and First Abu Dhabi Bank involvement brings traditional banking infrastructure to support it.

The technical implementation includes credit lines provided through existing lenders, such as broker dealers and Laser Digital. FAB’s role involves handling liquidity through lending credit lines on Libre’s assets across various blockchain networks.

Prior to that MANTRA, a layer 1 blockchain purpose-built for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) partnered with Libre Capital, a UAE-headquartered financial instruments tokenization and issuance platform, to provide investors with onchain access to a diverse range of attractive investment funds.

As per the partnership Libre Capital will provide those MANTRA users that are institutional or accredited investors with investment opportunities across a number of notable onchain funds, including leading hedge funds, private credit funds and money market funds.