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First Abu Dhabi Bank has moved a portfolio of digital assets into and out of regulated custody with Komainu, the two firms announced on 3 November. The transfers settled instantly. FAB says it is working toward its first digital asset financing transactions, including digital asset-backed repos, and none has taken place yet.
Key takeaways
Komainu and First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) said on 3 November that they completed two-way transfers of a digital asset portfolio, moving assets into and out of regulated custody, with instant settlement.
FAB says it is working toward its first digital asset financing transactions, including possible digital asset-backed repurchase agreements (repos). No financing deal has been done.
What happened
The transfers ran through a custody framework that Komainu built with FAB Global Markets, linking Komainu’s custody and connectivity services with the bank’s existing infrastructure. The announcement doesn’t say which assets were moved, how much they were worth or which regulator oversees the custody arrangement. It gives no amounts.
Paul Frost-Smith, Komainu’s group managing director, said the transfers show regulated custody can be integrated into a bank’s existing systems. The coverage includes no quote from a FAB executive.
What FAB wants to do next
The framework is designed to support institutional financing, including lending backed by digital assets held in regulated custody. FAB names digital asset-backed repos as part of that plan. In a repo, one party sells assets and agrees to buy them back later, so the assets serve as collateral for the cash received. The announcement gives no terms, no list of eligible collateral and no date for a first deal.
Who Komainu is
Komainu is a digital asset custodian headquartered in Jersey, with offices in London, Dubai and Singapore, backed by Laser Digital and Blockstream. Komainu MEA FZE holds a VARA VASP licence for VA custody services, issued on 18 August 2023 and restricted to institutional and qualified investors, according to the VARA public register. The announcement doesn’t say which Komainu entity holds the assets for FAB.
FAQs
What did FAB and Komainu announce?
They completed two-way transfers of a digital asset portfolio between FAB and regulated custody at Komainu, with instant settlement, on 3 November 2026.
Has FAB done a digital asset-backed repo?
No. FAB says it is working toward its first transactions. Terms and timing haven’t been disclosed.
What is a digital asset-backed repo?
A repurchase agreement in which digital assets serve as collateral. One party sells the assets for cash and agrees to buy them back later.
How much was transferred?
Not disclosed. The announcement gives no amounts or asset types.
Which regulator oversees the custody?
Not named in the coverage found. Komainu MEA FZE is licensed by VARA in Dubai for custody services.
Editor’s Take: A transfer into and out of custody tests the plumbing a bank needs before it can accept digital assets as collateral. It doesn’t test the lending, which is the part FAB describes as still to come. The questions to put to FAB are which Komainu entity holds the assets and which regulator’s custody rules apply. Komainu’s VARA licence covers institutional and qualified investors only, and FAB’s announcement doesn’t say whether the custody used here sits under it.