From leaving a private equity role at Mubadala to building MidChains into one of the UAE's leading digital asset platforms, Basil Al Askari has witnessed nearly a decade of crypto's evolution firsthand. He joins us today to discuss why he believes Bitcoin remains a strategic opportunity for sovereign wealth funds, how stablecoins are moving into corporate treasury operations, and why institutional engagement with digital assets is entering a new phase. Basil, welcome to the show.
Thanks for having me again, Rachel. It has been a while.
It really has. You left Mubadala in 2017 before institutional crypto adoption was a mainstream conversation. Looking back at nearly a decade through multiple cycles, what is the one belief about digital assets you have never had to revise?
It is really two things that we built the whole business around. The first is that we did not want to take a view on where asset prices were going at that early stage, so we wanted to build infrastructure that supported all of the technology and financial innovation that could happen within and around this space. The second is to build inside regulation with a regulatory-first approach. A lot of our peers, especially as far back as 2018 and 2019, were still building their businesses and then retroactively adjusting their models to meet evolving regulatory standards. We proactively approached our regulator and built our model around how regulators were thinking about enforcement and supervision.
You have publicly argued that current Bitcoin prices represent a discount and a strategic entry point for sovereign wealth funds. Walk us through that argument.
It is a combination of things. If we look at the cycle and where Bitcoin was at peak, typically in a bear market on Bitcoin we expect to see a correction of between 50 and 60%. We are almost there but have not quite hit that mark yet. From an event-driven catalyst perspective, everyone is waiting to see what happens in the US with the Clarity Act — that could impact the market directionally either way. In the meantime, we have had pretty stable pricing around the $60,000 range, and stable pricing is generally a good time for larger institutions to begin accumulating gradually rather than in one single large move.
At least one Middle East sovereign wealth fund is actively accumulating Bitcoin. What would it take for a domino effect across other sovereign allocators?
For an institution the size of a sovereign wealth fund to amend their investment policies and build risk frameworks around a new asset class, it takes a lot of time for those internal adjustments to be calibrated before allocation can actually occur. What helps speed things along is when leaders in the space publicly acknowledge that they believe in the asset class and have a tested methodology for investing in it. That public visibility and transparency can help push the hurdle along. What is better than anything else from a herd mentality perspective is having a reference point — a way for others to say, this is how to do it right, and we are going to follow this methodology to execute on our strategy in a way that is compliant, fair, and as low risk as possible.
You have written that the crypto industry needs to stop calling what institutions are doing institutional adoption. What is actually happening and how should we be measuring it?
Context matters. When most people think of institutional adoption, they think of investment houses or funds allocating to appreciate the assets they hold — that is allocation, not adoption. When I think of adoption, I think of treasury rails, stablecoin payments, and corporates incorporating blockchain technology to enhance their existing operations. That is the distinction I like to make. Allocation and adoption are both happening simultaneously but in different forms and from different types of institutions.
Where does MidChains stand in the stablecoin and corporate treasury journey?
We provide the execution and settlement layer — the last mile for a corporate or sovereign wealth fund to access these financial products. The stablecoin treasury argument has been very interesting for us. Over the last three years, it has been by far and away the fastest-growing client segment we have among corporate clients, and today it has actually become the largest part of our business. We very much support treasury managers from corporations of all sizes who are looking to incorporate stablecoins or blockchain technology into their settlement processes.
Where does the UAE sit on the global crypto regulation map compared to a year ago?
The geopolitical climate has created some questions. But for those of us with high conviction in the long-term vision of what the UAE is building, the story has not changed. The UAE has been building a true international hub for blockchain technology to be used responsibly across different aspects of financial services — investments, payments, lending, tokenisation. Pushing on all those fronts is creating an environment where global firms, not just local ones, can view the UAE as an international hub to serve multiple markets, not just MENA.
Thank you so much, Basil.
Likewise. Thank you again and hopefully we will be back again soon.
