Animoca Brands, the company behind The Sandbox and Anichess, has a new licence in Abu Dhabi. Its subsidiary Animoca Asset Management (AD) Limited (AAM) has been granted a Financial Services Permission (FSP) by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of ADGM, the international financial center of Abu Dhabi, capital of the UAE.
The permission lets Animoca Brands carry out the regulated activity of Managing a Collective Investment Fund in or from the ADGM. In plain terms, the company can now run investment funds under the Abu Dhabi regulator’s oversight.
What it means for players
Nothing changes inside the games themselves. The announcement covers fund management and says nothing about The Sandbox (official site), Anichess (official site) or any other Animoca title. It’s a corporate and regulatory story, and it shows where the company is putting its effort in the Middle East.
Animoca says the FSP supports its wider plan to build institutional-grade blockchain infrastructure, connect traditional financial institutions to decentralized networks, develop tokenized assets, and bring agentic AI into Web3 environments. The company describes the aim as advancing the future of digital property rights.
What the two sides said
Minh Do, Senior Executive Officer and Director of AAM, said: “Securing the Financial Services Permission from ADGM’s FSRA is a critical milestone for our operations in the Middle East. It allows us to manage collective investment funds under a robust regulatory framework, bridging institutional capital with the future of the agentic web and digital assets.”
Arvind Ramamurthy, Chief Market Development Officer at ADGM, said: “We welcome Animoca Brands to ADGM. Its expansion into fund management strengthens the connections between institutional capital and digital assets within our ecosystem. As digital assets become increasingly integrated into financial markets, we look forward to supporting the firm’s growth and reinforcing Abu Dhabi’s position as a hub for innovation in digital finance.”
Who Animoca Brands is
Animoca Brands Corporation Limited calls itself a global digital assets leader that builds and invests in technologies and ecosystems, including autonomous agentic AI. Besides The Sandbox SAND $0.0447 ▼ -6.4% and Anichess, it builds the Moca Network MOCA $0.007751 ▼ -9.9% and Open Campus, offers digital asset services to Web3 companies, and runs institutional-grade platforms.
Its investment portfolio covers more than 600 companies and digital assets. The company says the new permission extends its institutional capabilities and supports its expansion in the Middle East.
