Miami International Holdings (MIH), the parent holding company of MIAX®, and MidChains, an upcoming virtual asset trading platform, today announced that MIH has completed a follow-on equity investment in MidChains’ parent holding company, MEEG Holdings Limited. The parties previously announced MIH’s initial investment and intent to pursue joint technology licensing and product listing opportunities.
Based in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), MidChains is seeking to provide one of the world’s first fully regulated and supervised ecosystem infrastructures for virtual asset trading under the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) regulatory framework. MidChains is expected to launch trading operations in Q1 2021, subject to FSRA approval.
“MIH is pleased to complete its follow-on investment and excited to be part of the new exchange that MidChains is seeking to launch in 2021,” said Thomas P. Gallagher, Chairman and CEO of MIH. “We are very impressed with the team that co-founders Basil Al Askari and Mohamed Al Hashemi have assembled, and we are eager to have MidChains contribute to MIAX’s product development process as part of our partnership.”
“We thank MIH for its additional investment and continued vote of confidence in MidChains,” commented Mr. Al Askari, co-founder and CEO of MidChains. “Having the backing of a diversified, multi-asset exchange group such as MIH has been very beneficial during the approval process, and MIH’s industry expertise will remain an important resource once we launch trading operations. We are thrilled to have partnered with MIH and to begin working together on the various initiatives that we have planned.”
Continued Gallagher, “We also look forward to collaborating with our co-investors, Mubadala and ADQ, and are committed to being an active partner with all those involved with MidChains. As divisions of two of the world’s leading sovereign wealth funds, Mubadala and ADQ present MIH with a special opportunity and we are excited by the prospect of working with both of them.”
Added John Smollen, Executive Vice President and Head of Exchange Traded Products and Strategic Relations at MIH, “The completion of our MidChains investment is part of a global strategy that MIH began several years ago. Our completed acquisition of the Bermuda Stock Exchange in December 2020, coupled with our previous investment in LedgerX, puts MIH in a strong position to be a significant, global competitor in the crypto and token marketplaces. Abu Dhabi is going to be a market leader in these markets and MidChains will be part of it.”
