Chainlink partners with Abu Dhabi’s ADGM on tokenization framework development
Chainlink, a prominent decentralized oracle network, has partnered with the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), a free zone and international financial center located on Al Maryah Island in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with a view towards further developing tokenization frameworks.
Compliant tokenization frameworks
According to an announcement on the ADGM website, the international financial center signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Chainlink. It claimed that the collaboration marks “a major step in advancing compliant tokenisation frameworks.”
Chainlink provides a suite of services. Central to that is the delivery of real-world data feeds into blockchain networks. ADGM believes that through the partnership, projects located within the free zone will be able to access this technology, while the ADGM’s Registration Authority will ensure regulatory compliance.
The CEO of the ADGM Registration Authority, Hamad Sayah Al Mazrouei, said that the strategic alliance is a significant step towards ADGM leadership in blockchain innovation. He added:
“By collaborating with Chainlink, we are aiming to set a global benchmark that spearheads transparency, security, and trust across the blockchain space.”
The collaboration includes plans to host events and workshops aimed at educating the blockchain sector within the UAE. The two parties also aspire to the initiative, sparking greater dialogue on regulatory matters relative to blockchain, artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.
Global collaborations
This is the latest in a long list of collaborations that Chainlink has entered into, relative to asset tokenization. In October, it partnered with Singapore’s DigiFT, an exchange dedicated to tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). The following month, it completed a pilot program alongside financial messaging service SWIFT and UBS Asset Management under the umbrella of the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) Project Guardian. The project concerned itself with the settlement of tokenized funds.
Earlier in 2024, Chainlink partnered with U.S. financial market infrastructure firm DTCC on the Smart NAV pilot project. The initiative centered on the creation and issuance of tokenized funds, counting JPMorgan, State Street, BNY Mellon, Invesco and Franklin Templeton among its participants.
In the UAE, Chainlink has been added as a member of the Digital Asset Lab of one of the country’s largest banking groups, Emirates NBD.
For its part, the ADGM has also been on the front foot with regard to tokenization initiatives. Its Regulatory Authority has established a regulatory framework with regard to asset tokenization, with an emphasis on investor protection.
In October of last year, RWA tokenization platform Realize launched the financial center’s first tokenized U.S. treasury bill fund. At the time, the ADGM said that the development highlighted an objective for the region in becoming the global market leader where RWA tokenization is concerned.
The ADGM began operations in 2015 with its own legal system. As of the end of 2024, the financial center hosted 134 fund and asset managers. Market maker and Web3 investment firm DWF Labs moved its headquarters from Singapore to Abu Dhabi’s ADGM at the end of last year, citing the goal of wanting to expand tokenized RWA-based projects as one of the reasons for the move.
