Animoca Brands clears final hurdle for Abu Dhabi fund management

Animoca Brands said Monday it had secured approval to manage investment funds for non-retail clients in Abu Dhabi, expanding the asset management business of a company that began in mobile games before moving into blockchain gaming and venture investing.

The authorization, granted to subsidiary Animoca Asset Management (AD) Limited by Abu Dhabi Global Market’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), allows it to oversee funds that pool money from professional investors rather than the general public.

The approval announced Monday took effect on Oct. 13, bringing a process that began with in-principle approval in November 2025 to completion. In the intervening months, Animoca also secured a Dubai license in February to provide virtual asset brokerage and investment management services to institutional and qualified investors.

Animoca Brands was spun off from mobile game developer Animoca in 2014, initially developing and publishing games based on licensed brands alongside original titles. It shifted its focus toward blockchain in 2018 and built an investment portfolio that included OpenSea, Dapper Labs and Axie Infinity developer Sky Mavis.

In a September investor update, the company described a broader transition from a digital asset and Web3 operator into a regulated financial services institution operating across multiple jurisdictions, amid a broader push by crypto-native companies into traditional financial services. Under that strategy, digital assets are taking on a more institutional role in its business, with a focus on stablecoins, real-world asset tokenization and treasury management.

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