Abu Dhabi’s $2B Binance Bet: Sovereign Wealth Fund Cashes Out via Trump-Branded Stablecoin

In a move blending high finance and political theater, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund quietly exits its $2 billion Binance position—using a Trump-themed stablecoin as the getaway vehicle. The deal smells like a PR stunt, but the blockchain doesn’t lie.

Wall Street’s old guard will clutch their pearls, but this is crypto’s new normal: nation-states now play hedge fund games with meme-worthy tokens. Just don’t ask about the ’stable’ part when election polls swing.

transaction details

Zach Witkoff, co-founder of World Liberty Financial, announced the investment at the TOKEN2049 conference in Dubai. USD1 is a US dollar-pegged stablecoin backed by US Treasury bonds, cash, and other liquid assets. The use of USD1 for this transaction demonstrates institutional investors’ confidence in the stability and security of stablecoins.

Another significant move by Abu Dhabi into the crypto market came through Mubadala Investment Company, one of the emirate’s leading sovereign wealth funds. In the fourth quarter of 2024, Mubadala invested approximately 436.9 million USD in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This holding represents the purchase of 8.2 million IBIT shares and marks one of the first known instances of a major sovereign wealth fund directly investing in Bitcoin ETFs.

impact on the crypto market

This investment could set a precedent for the use of stablecoins in large-scale institutional transactions. It also reflects the growing interest of governments and large investors in integrating cryptocurrencies into traditional financial structures. Furthermore, the partnership between MGX and Binance could accelerate the development of new stablecoin applications in areas such as cross-border payments and financial inclusion.

The decision to use a politically linked stablecoin like USD1 for one of the largest crypto investments of the year underscores the growing influence of geopolitical actors in the digital finance space. While traditional stablecoins like USDC and USDT have so far dominated the market, the use of USD1 signals a new trend: the strategic positioning of nationally or politically motivated digital currencies in global capital flows. If USD1 manages to establish itself over the long term, it could not only reshape the stablecoin landscape but also reignite the debate over state control and economic sovereignty in the crypto sector.