Animoca Brands, which makes The Sandbox and Anichess, now holds a licence in Abu Dhabi. The Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of ADGM, the international financial center of the UAE capital, has granted a Financial Services Permission (FSP) to its subsidiary Animoca Asset Management (AD) Limited (AAM).
With the FSP, Animoca Brands can carry out the regulated activity of Managing a Collective Investment Fund in or from the ADGM. Put simply, the company is now allowed to operate investment funds while the Abu Dhabi regulator oversees it.
What changes for players
The games stay as they are. The announcement is about fund management only, and it doesn’t mention The Sandbox SAND $0.04447 ▼ -7.1% (official site), Anichess (official site) or any other Animoca game. This is regulatory and corporate news, and it tells you where the company is spending its energy in the Middle East.
According to Animoca, the FSP fits a larger plan with four parts: building institutional-grade blockchain infrastructure, linking traditional financial institutions with decentralized networks, developing tokenized assets, and bringing agentic AI into Web3 environments. The company says the goal is advancing the future of digital property rights.
Comments from Animoca and ADGM
Speaking for AAM, Senior Executive Officer and Director Minh Do 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.”
ADGM’s Chief Market Development Officer, Arvind Ramamurthy, 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.”
About Animoca Brands
Animoca Brands Corporation Limited describes itself as a global digital assets leader that builds and invests in technologies and ecosystems, autonomous agentic AI among them. On top of The Sandbox and Anichess, the company builds the Moca Network MOCA $0.007689 ▼ -10.4% and Open Campus, provides digital asset services to Web3 companies, and operates institutional-grade platforms.
More than 600 companies and digital assets sit in its investment portfolio. Animoca says the new permission adds to its institutional capabilities and supports its growth in the Middle East.