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BlackRock, Mastercard, and Franklin Templeton Announce Collaboration with ADI Foundation, Signaling Institutional Adoption
Leading global financial institutions converge with ADI Foundation as Abu Dhabi sets the direction for institutional blockchain infrastructure.
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates
December 18, 2025, 1:25 PM ET
BlackRock, Mastercard, and Franklin Templeton Announce Collaboration with the ADI Foundation Signaling Institutional Adoption / Source: ADI Chain (EZ Newswire)
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, December 18, 2025 (EZ Newswire) -- Days after the mainnet launch, the MENA region's first and largest institutional L2 has secured partnerships with BlackRock, Mastercard, and Franklin Templeton, demonstrating institutional confidence in compliance-first blockchain architecture.
The Institutional Validation
Each of ADI's latest partnerships targets different infrastructure needs:
BlackRock signed an MoU with the ADI Foundation to explore accelerating blockchain adoption across financial markets and strengthening the emirate's status as a global digital asset hub. The partnership targets institution-grade tokenized asset structures, improved distribution, and clear regulatory frameworks that support market growth.
The Mastercard partnership is focused on blockchain-based payments and asset tokenization across the Middle East. The collaboration brings stablecoin settlement, cross-border payments, and digital asset rails to the region with regulatory alignment built in.
Franklin Templeton signed an MoU with the ADI Foundation to explore regulated digital asset infrastructure within ADGM. The partnership focuses on building compliant pathways for institutions to create and launch tokenized products, developing digital rails for improved distribution and settlement, and conducting research on stablecoins and tokenized assets that align with regulatory requirements.
The ADI Foundation also announced a UAE expansion on December 10, 2025, further demonstrating momentum and institutional blockchain adoption in the region.
Three global institutions partnering within days of launch signal what they need: a blockchain built for regulatory frameworks. These partnerships expand the ADI Foundation's influence, reach, and capabilities, bringing more projects into the ecosystem as enterprises discover ADI Chain through BlackRock, Mastercard, Franklin Templeton, and expanding institutional networks.
The market response showed demand for compliance-ready infrastructure: that interest extends beyond institutional players.
The Build Continues
BlackRock, Mastercard, and Franklin Templeton joined an ecosystem spanning partnerships across 20 countries. Over 50 institutional and enterprise projects are in the pipeline for deployment on ADI Chain, with institutional and technology partnerships continuing to expand.
Projects deploying on ADI Chain already demonstrate the network's institutional use cases:
Near Protocol's TravAI brings travel management onchain, with payments settled on ADI Chain.
ADREC’s strategic partnership with the ADI Foundation targets pilot projects across Abu Dhabi's real estate sector, covering property registration, title validation, transaction management, and shared ownership models.
Esyasoft Holding's collaboration is focused on energy transition through blockchain infrastructure for governments and utilities.
Emirates Driving Company partnered with the ADI Foundation to pilot blockchain solutions across the UAE's driver education ecosystem, streamlining workflows and modernizing payments.
The foundation's strategic partnerships expand its capabilities and market access: ZKsync powers ADI Chain's zero-knowledge proof infrastructure, Alchemy provides national-scale deployment capabilities, WalletConnect enables cross-chain interoperability, and Covalent delivers real-time blockchain data for institutional applications.
Core infrastructure milestones continue advancing as well. ADI Chain was chosen to host the UAE Dirham-backed stablecoin, which will be issued by two major players in the region: First Abu Dhabi Bank and IHC, and is set to be regulated by the UAE Central Bank.
Alongside technical infrastructure, the Foundation will launch an educational initiative, ‘Future Tech 4.0’ in partnership with ADGM and leading universities to develop over 10,000 Web3 specialists.
A Year of Building
Most L2 blockchains compete on transaction speed and low fees. ADI Chain took a different approach, building for compliance, regulatory alignment, and government deployment. The thesis was straightforward: emerging market governments and institutions need blockchain infrastructure designed specifically for them.
One year ago, the ADI Foundation announced its formation at Abu Dhabi Finance Week. Last week, it returned to the same stage to announce the ADI Chain Mainnet launch. Twelve months from formation to operational infrastructure, with partnerships confirmed within days.
BlackRock, Mastercard, and Franklin Templeton signed partnerships days after launch, showing they had monitored development closely. When institutions of that scale move that quickly, it validates the category itself. ADI established "institutional L2 for MENA" before competitors could claim the space.
ADI aims to bring one billion people onchain by 2030. One year in: mainnet operational, partnerships across 20 countries, 50-plus projects ready to deploy, over 500 million people already within reach. The goal now looks less distant.
About ADI Chain
The ADI Foundation is an Abu Dhabi-based non-profit founded by Sirius International Holding, a subsidiary of IHC, dedicated to empowering governments and institutions in emerging markets through blockchain infrastructure. The foundation's mission is to bring one billion people into the digital economy by 2030, building on a foundation of over 500 million people already within its ecosystem reach.
ADI Chain is the first institutional Layer 2 blockchain for stablecoins and real-world assets in the MENA region, providing settlement infrastructure for First Abu Dhabi Bank and IHC's dirham-backed stablecoin, set to be regulated by the UAE Central Bank. The network operates on three pillars: compliance, efficiency, and security — serving governments implementing blockchain infrastructure across the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.
ADI Chain and the ADI token are developed by ADI DLT Foundation (“ADI”), a technology foundation. This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment, legal, or tax advice, nor an offer to buy or sell any digital asset. All features, token utilities, timelines, and launch details are subject to change without notice. No guarantees are made regarding future performance or token value.
