BlackRock, Mastercard, and Franklin Templeton Sign MOUs with ADI: Wall Street’s Digital Asset Inflection Point
Three financial titans just placed a massive bet on the future of digital infrastructure.
The Institutional Stamp of Approval
BlackRock, Mastercard, and Franklin Templeton aren't dabbling. Signing Memoranda of Understanding with Abu Dhabi's ADI signals a coordinated move beyond crypto-curiosity. This is about building the rails for the next generation of value transfer. Forget the hype cycles—this is about utility, scale, and regulatory foresight.
Why This Partnership Cuts Through the Noise
It bypasses the speculative fray entirely. The collaboration focuses on developing digital asset infrastructure and regulatory frameworks. Think institutional-grade settlement layers, programmable compliance, and cross-border payment systems that actually work. It's the boring, essential plumbing that makes the flashy stuff possible—and profitable.
The Cynical Take
Of course, the old guard only moves when the risk is managed and the revenue streams are mapped. A nice, safe MOU lets them test the waters without fully diving in. It's hedging, dressed up as innovation.
The Bottom Line
When asset managers, payments networks, and sovereign wealth hubs align, they're not betting on a coin—they're building a new market. The message is clear: digital assets are moving from the fringe to the core of global finance. The real question isn't if, but how fast the rest of the industry follows.
Institutions move fast after launch
BlackRock’s MoU with the ADI Foundation focuses on exploring tokenized asset structures, regulated market rails, and distribution frameworks aligned with global compliance standards. The move comes as the asset manager expands its digital asset footprint, including recent filings tied to staked ethereum and other crypto ETFs.
Mastercard’s partnership targets blockchain-based payments and asset tokenization across the Middle East. The collaboration is expected to support stablecoin settlement, cross-border payments, and digital payment rails designed to operate within regional regulatory frameworks.
Franklin Templeton, meanwhile, signed an MoU to develop compliant pathways for tokenized products within Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). The effort includes research into stablecoins, regulated issuance models, and institutional-grade settlement infrastructure, extending the firm’s growing presence in tokenization and crypto ETFs.
Built for regulation, not speculation
ADI Chain is positioning itself differently from most Layer 2 networks. Rather than competing on transaction speed or low fees, the network was designed from inception around compliance, security, and government deployment.
ADI already powers settlement for the UAE’s dirham-backed stablecoin, backed by FAB and IHC, and watched closely by the Central Bank. Core infrastructure partners include zksync for zero-knowledge proofs, Alchemy for deployment tooling, WalletConnect for interoperability, and Covalent for real-time data access.
According to CoinMarketCap, ADI token now trades at $1.14 with a $111M market cap and $12.7M volume in the 24h view, representing a 118% growth.
Abu Dhabi’s institutional blockchain bet
The agreements follow the ADI Foundation’s announcement earlier this month expanding its UAE footprint and launching an education initiative, “Future Tech 4.0,” in partnership with ADGM and local universities. The program aims to train more than 10,000 Web3 specialists.
Founded one year ago, the ADI Foundation unveiled the ADI Chain mainnet at Abu Dhabi Finance Week. Within days, partnerships with BlackRock, Mastercard, and Franklin Templeton followed, a pace that suggests these institutions had been monitoring the network well before launch.
ADI expects to bring one billion people onchain by 2030. With a live mainnet, regulated stablecoin rails, and early institutional backing, the foundation is betting that compliance-first design will drive the next phase of real-world adoption.
Also read: ONDO Finance to Bring $2B in Tokenized Bonds, ETFs to Solana
