Tabadulat and Minted Connect Partner to Pioneer Gold-Backed Shariah Investments

Mohammed Fathy

Last updated 24-02-2026

4 min

Tabadulat and Minted Connect partner to expand structured, Shariah-compliant gold investments.

Minted Connect will access “physically backed” gold ETCs via Tabadulat’s brokerage platform.

Gold prices have surged 64% in 2025, boosting its appeal.

The deal aligns execution, custody and compliance within Islamic finance rules.

If successful, it could push Shariah-compliant investing further into the institutional mainstream.

Tabadulat Limited, the Abu Dhabi-based Shariah-compliant brokerage platform regulated by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) at ADGM, has signed a strategic collaboration with Minted Connect FZCO, a DMCC-authorised precious metals and digital assets firm. The aim is clear: to open the door for institutional investors to access gold-backed, Shariah-compliant investment instruments in a more structured and regulated way.

Under the agreement, Minted Connect will tap into physically backed gold Exchange Traded Commodities (ETCs) via Tabadulat’s Islamic brokerage infrastructure. In simple terms, this means institutional players will be able to gain exposure to gold through regulated channels that align with Islamic finance principles. Tabadulat will handle execution, custody and compliance, while Minted Connect looks to diversify its own institutional treasury assets with gold-backed instruments that meet Shariah standards.

Gold, of course, is having its moment again. Prices have surged by around 64% in 2025, marking the biggest annual rise since 1979. That’s no small feat. In uncertain times, investors tend to flock to gold as a store of value, and within Islamic finance, it has always held a special status. I’ve seen over the years how founders in the region often speak about gold almost with a mix of tradition and strategy, it’s cultural, yes, but also practical. When markets wobble, gold suddenly looks spot on.

This partnership brings together two very different but complementary footprints. Minted Connect serves more than three million users globally and operates through licensed affiliates in the UK and Turkey. Tabadulat, founded in 2024, is working on what it describes as the UAE’s first unified Shari’ah-compliant global brokerage infrastructure. It provides access to halal equities, ETFs and other international instruments, structured to eliminate elements prohibited in Islamic finance such as riba (interest), gharar (excessive uncertainty) and maysir (speculation).

Samy Mohamad, Co-founder and Director of Tabadulat, said gold has long been a core asset in Islamic finance and noted that the collaboration supports the broader goal of building global halal investing infrastructure. Engin Butun, Co-founder and CEO of Minted Connect, described the move as more than a simple service arrangement, calling it a genuine strategic partnership focused on delivering ethically aligned financial products and strengthening the wider Shariah-compliant investment ecosystem.

That said, strategic partnerships are easy to announce and harder to execute. The real test will be in how seamlessly both sides integrate their systems and compliance frameworks. Islamic finance is rigorous by design, and institutional investors are not exactly known for their patience. Still, if done right, this could lower a bit of the faff that institutions face when trying to access gold in a fully compliant way.

From where I stand, watching the MENA startup and fintech space evolve, collaborations like this feel like part of a bigger shift. There is a growing appetite for regulated, values-based investing, not just from retail investors, but from institutions managing serious capital. And believe it or not, many young founders I speak to are thinking about treasury management much earlier than before. They want diversification, but they want it clean and compliant.

I reckon the timing is not accidental. With gold hitting multi-decade highs and regulators in the UAE steadily sharpening their frameworks, both companies are positioning themselves carefully. If the partnership delivers on its promise, it could reinforce Abu Dhabi’s ambition to become a hub for Islamic finance innovation.

For startups across the region, especially those building in fintech and digital assets, this is another signal that Shariah-compliant infrastructure is no longer a niche corner of the market. It’s moving into the institutional mainstream. And that, in my view, is definately something to watch closely.

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