UAE M2 Crypto Exchange turned digital asset wealth manager is closing down
The Abu Dhabi regulated crypto exchange, which was moving towards becoming a crypto asset wealth manager for HNWIs and institutional investors is closing down and is said to be moving into a totally new sector, that of datacenters.
Sources, who would like to remain anonymous, within M2 have confirmed that over the past month and a half, 50% of employees were fired, and today it has been confirmed as well by other internal company sources that M2 will be shutting down and moving into a totally new sector.
According to anonymous sources within the company, “M2 had wanted to be institutional asset manager initially however the board changed their mind.” The source added, ” They are shifting strategy and moving into data centers.”
Another source who previously worked in M2 noted, ” They have stopped onboarding new clients and are not allowing any new deals to be created,”
In September 2025, the crypto exchange, dropped its previous business model and announced it was focusing on being a digital asset wealth management platform. At the time the firm noted that it would be focusing on serving high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), family offices, institutional investors, and corporate treasuries, delivering bespoke investment solutions built for capital investors.
Prior to the announcement, in April 2025, M2, appointed James Greenwood as Chief Executive Officer, Bill Qian as Managing Director, while Bijan Alizadeh remains as Board Member and Shareholder Representative.
Just earlier this year, it had also announced that it would launch new products and services including crypto lending in 2025. The press release noted at that time that M2 had refocused its treasury division to serve high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), family offices, and institutional clients with bespoke offerings.
Today it seems even this restructuring has been stopped. M2 is backed by leading shareholders in the UAE’s innovation economy, M2 had licensed entities that included M2 Custody Limited is licensed and regulated by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), while M2 Global Wealth Limited (M2GW) is licensed and regulated by the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB).
It was also strongly supported by Phoenix Group in the UAE. M2 had started with an equity investment of $300 million with strategic partners being UAE based Phoenix Group and several Abu Dhabi family offices.
It seems as the crypto asset ecosystem is growing and the crypto exchange ecosystem is becoming more crowded many of them might face similar situations or acquisitions by other big players like we saw with Coin DCX and UAE BitOasis.
Updated 12:34 pm November 18th 2025
