Crypto.com and Changer.ae have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at widening access to regulated digital-asset services across the United Arab Emirates, a move that shows the country’s drive to become a global centre for digital finance.
The agreement, announced during Abu Dhabi Finance Week, will see the two companies explore a range of initiatives, all subject to the necessary regulatory approvals, designed to make it easier for individuals and institutions to move between cryptocurrency and fiat, and to broaden the availability of regulated custody and related services. Among the proposals the partners will examine is integrating Crypto.com’s institutional solutions to support liquidity for Changer’s crypto-to-fiat conversion services.
Deepening Regulated Digital Asset Adoption
Officials from both firms said the collaboration pairs Crypto.com’s global infrastructure and compliance know-how with Changer.ae’s local market expertise and regulatory standing in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). The partnership is being pitched as a way to accelerate responsible adoption of digital assets in a jurisdiction that has created clear rules around virtual assets, custody and digital-asset infrastructure.
“This partnership aligns with the UAE’s broader strategy to foster innovation in financial services while maintaining strong regulatory oversight,” said Eric Anziani, President and Chief Operating Officer of Crypto.com. “As a global company it’s important for us to have strong local partners who support our endeavours to provide a best in class service to our users and accelerate the adoption of digital assets and that’s what we’re getting with Changer.ae.”
Alain Yacine, Crypto.com’s President for the Middle East and Latin America, added that expanding in the UAE and supporting innovation in the local digital-asset sector is a priority, and that Crypto.com’s technology could enhance Changer’s regulated wallet and custody offerings.
Changer’s senior leadership framed the deal as consistent with the UAE’s approach of running innovation and regulation in parallel. “Through this collaboration with Crypto.com, we aim to broaden secure and compliant access to digital assets for users and businesses, in line with the country’s vision for a resilient and future-ready digital economy,” said Hao Wang, CFA, Senior Executive Officer at Changer.
Changer.ae is a virtual asset service provider authorized by ADGM and licensed by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), having secured its Financial Services Permission in recent years as it rolled out custody and wallet services in the UAE. Those regulatory credentials are central to the partnership’s pitch: combining on-the-ground licensing and local banking relationships with a global exchange’s institutional plumbing.
For Crypto.com, founded in 2016 and one of the better-known global crypto platforms, the MoU is another step in an expansion across the Middle East and beyond that has seen the company pursue local partnerships and regulatory engagement as it pushes to put cryptocurrency into more everyday wallets. The two firms say they will now work through the regulatory process and technical integration plans that could bring new, regulated options for converting, custodizing and using digital assets in the UAE.
As regulators and market participants continue to shape how digital-asset services operate, partnerships like this one highlight a pragmatic approach: marry international scale with local licences and oversight, and lean on that mix to build products intended to be both innovative and compliant.
