Bitcoin mining companies are outliers on exchanges in Abu Dhabi and the region, which are dominated by banking, real estate, and energy firms. Ali’s path into crypto, like many in the industry, is unconventional.

He started his career as a trader in London before moving to Dubai with Citi in 2005, just as the property market was booming. There, he saw an opportunity: Many people were building wealth in the Gulf — or bringing their riches from other countries — but held passports that limited mobility or tied them to unfavorable tax regimes.

Ali began developing hotels in Caribbean countries like St. Kitts and Dominica, which offer citizenship to investors. Business was good, and he wasn’t paying attention to financial innovations, until a 21-year-old client with more than $200 million in the bank came seeking a passport. The client, whom Ali declined to name, introduced him to Bitcoin, gifting him his first coin, worth $458 at the time. Within six months, Ali said he left real estate to go all-in on crypto mining, operating rigs out of a warehouse district in Dubai.

The business grew as crypto boomed. Phoenix began selling mining equipment and hosting servers for customers. Access to affordable power has always been the main challenge, Ali said. Today, the company focuses on securing land with surplus electricity — renewable, solar, wind, nuclear, grid or off-grid — and reliable internet connectivity. In many ways, it’s a real estate play.

While many crypto executives are eager to hype up the latest token or trend, Ali is focused on the picks and shovels: the infrastructure. “We are long electricity, which means we are long crypto, and that also means we are long AI,” he said.