Do you know where Middle Eastern tycoons are most eager to spend money right now? Abu Dhabi’s financial district.

Bloomberg’s top headline today revealed: Abu Dhabi is preparing to shell out $16 billion to massively expand its financial core area. Office buildings, luxury residences, commercial complexes—all being arranged.

Why the rush? Because global financial giants are lining up to get in. Just in the past few weeks, private equity giant KKR and hedge fund Man Group both officially announced they’re opening branches here. There’s simply not enough space.

Interestingly, that leading crypto exchange which received investment from Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund MGX earlier this year, has recently secured three exclusive licenses from the local financial regulator—exchange operations, asset custody, and OTC fiat services—the full suite.

And then? They’ve officially moved their global operations center to Abu Dhabi.

But the real kicker is: in the third quarter, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority aggressively increased its holdings in Bitcoin ETFs, more than tripling its position.

What does this mean? Abu Dhabi now holds a large stash of BTC, owns a top crypto exchange, and has a host of crypto industry professionals permanently stationed there—this setup is unmistakably forming the next major center for crypto finance.