Bitgrit, a prominent player in the global artificial intelligence (AI) startup ecosystem, has taken a major stride by establishing a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) Foundation within the regulatory environment of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). This development signals the company’s strategic advancement towards launching the BGR Network, an innovative Web3 protocol designed to decentralize AI ownership, monetization, and collaborative innovation.
The company, which began operations in Japan and expanded to the United Arab Emirates in 2021 through its selection into Hub71—Abu Dhabi’s leading startup acceleration initiative—has cultivated a vibrant AI community comprising over 37,000 developers from 62 countries. Through its platform, Bitgrit has contributed to solving critical problems for institutions such as NASA, SoftBank, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government by leveraging the capabilities of crowdsourced AI models.
Bitgrit’s platform enables businesses to obtain tailored AI solutions via competitions or license community-generated models quickly and affordably. The company’s proprietary GritBox technology plays a central role in maintaining data privacy by allowing model training on confidential datasets without granting direct access. With the launch of the BGR Network, these AI capabilities are transitioning to the blockchain, bringing AI assets fully on-chain and enhancing transparency and utility.
The leadership at Bitgrit emphasized the broader vision behind the BGR Network, suggesting that it would foster global collaboration and equitable AI innovation. The initiative aims to digitize ownership rights of AI assets, introduce mechanisms for transparent value distribution, and create a framework where AI can become a tradable asset. Future aspirations include enabling autonomous communication between AI models, which may potentially lead to the emergence of Artificial Super Intelligence within the Bitgrit ecosystem.
By anchoring the DLT Foundation in ADGM, Bitgrit intends to take full advantage of Abu Dhabi’s robust regulatory framework, which is recognized for supporting emerging technologies. The foundation’s core mission revolves around building a decentralized AI economy that allows secure on-chain development, licensing, and staking of AI models by developers and institutions worldwide.
The BGR Token, which is already live, forms the foundation of value exchange within the network. It is intended to ensure a fair and transparent economic model for both AI creators and businesses, further reinforcing Bitgrit’s commitment to decentralization and fair monetization.
Company executives indicated that their decision to set up operations in Abu Dhabi was guided by the need for a trustworthy and structured regulatory environment. They viewed ADGM’s governance as an ideal base from which to scale their blockchain-AI ecosystem globally.
Bitgrit has also entered into strategic partnerships within the ADGM ecosystem. Notably, the company has collaborated with Changer.ae, a licensed digital asset custody firm, to safeguard the management of BGR tokens. The technological backbone of the BGR Network is supported by Avalanche, a high-performance blockchain known for its scalability and low transaction costs, which strengthens the network’s infrastructure and usability.
The Registration Authority (RA) of ADGM acknowledged Bitgrit’s move as a sign of growing confidence in Abu Dhabi’s regulatory landscape for blockchain and AI convergence. This development, according to the RA, reinforces the emirate’s stature as a global hub for next-generation technologies and supports its ambition to enable responsible scaling of transformative innovations.
As Bitgrit continues to evolve its AI and blockchain platform, the launch of the BGR Foundation represents a significant milestone in shaping a decentralized, transparent, and inclusive digital economy. The initiative is expected to unlock new pathways for AI development and global collaboration, redefining how intelligent systems are owned, shared, and commercialized in the Web3 era.