Abu Dhabi authorities successfully contained three fires at the Borouge petrochemicals plant after falling debris fell on the site, according to a statement from the Abu Dhabi Media Office.

The debris was linked to what officials described as successful interceptions by air defence systems.

Emergency response teams were deployed to contain the fires, while operations at the facility have been immediately suspended as damage assessments get underway.

No injuries were reported.

Borouge is Abu Dhabi’s flagship petrochemicals producer, converting oil and gas into high-performance plastics used across infrastructure, energy and manufacturing globally.

The company’s facilities form part of the UAE’s critical industrial backbone, supporting both domestic supply chains and international markets.

Authorities said further updates will be provided as more information becomes available.

The public has been urged to rely only on official sources for updates and to avoid spreading rumours or unverified information.

• This story has been updated.

The US rescued an airman missing from one of two warplanes downed in Iran, two US officials said, as President Donald Trump and Israel stepped up pressure on Iran to open the strategic Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on energy facilities.

The officials did not provide further details to Reuters late on Friday about the airman. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The airman was the second member of a two-person crew of an F-15 jet that Iran said on Friday was brought down by its air defenses. Reuters reported on Friday that the first member of the crew had been recovered.

Trump has sent mixed messages ranging from hints of diplomatic progress to threats to bomb the Islamic Republic “back to the Stone Ages” since the U.S. and Iran launched the war on Iran on February 28.

Trump, who has previously threatened to hit Iranian power plants if his demands were not met, told Tehran his latest deadline for a deal to end the war was fast approaching.

“Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT. Time is running out — 48 hours before all Hell will reign (sic) down on them. Glory be to GOD!” he wrote in a post on Truth Social.

The war has killed thousands, sparked an energy crisis and threatens lasting damage to the world economy after Iran virtually shut the ​Strait of Hormuz, which usually carries about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas.

Digital assets have moved well beyond the experimental phase. What once felt like a parallel financial system one which was considered interesting, but best approached with caution, is now converging with the core of global finance.

Only a few years ago, cryptocurrencies and tokenised assets were the simply considered for outliers and risk-takers.

Today they are becoming part of the financial mainstream fabric, making money programmable, borderless, and faster to move.

Stablecoins sit at the centre of this shift. Designed to hold a steady value by pegging to fiat currencies (and sometimes stable commodities), they began as a niche tool for crypto trading. Now, they are evolving into the internet’s “wire service”— a default settlement layer that operates continuously.

The numbers underline the momentum: in 2024, stablecoin settlement reached $18tn, surpassing Visa’s $15.7tn.

With supply topping $300bn, stablecoins are increasingly positioned to become the always-on rail for 24/7 B2B liquidity.

As stablecoins scale, they are also reshaping expectations around capital efficiency. A growing global consensus is emerging: holding non-yielding digital cash is considered inefficient. Stablecoins held idle are effectively dead capital. That reality is accelerating demand for tokenised treasuries — on-chain cash equivalents that pair the safety of US Treasury bills with the speed and composability of crypto infrastructure.

Still early, the market exceeded $8.5bn last year, and tokens yielding 4–5 per cent could increasingly replace zero per cent stablecoins as the standard form of collateral.

Tokenisation is changing the game

Tokenisation is also starting to redraw the boundaries of private markets. Private credit has historically traded off transparency and liquidity for access and returns. Tokenisation changes that equation by making historically opaque loans more tradable and easier to price. Even a small shift would be meaningful: tokenising only 1 per cent of private credit would create a $17 bn on-chain market.

For investors, the hunt for yield does not stop at cash and credit. Staking—once viewed as a retail gamble — is maturing into something closer to an “internet bond.” Through staking-as-a-service, institutional flows are gravitating toward regulated liquid staking tokens (LSTs). As the market professionalises, staking yield is becoming less of an optional add-on and more of a standardised benchmark return that digital asset portfolios are expected to earn.

This evolution does not spell the end of traditional banks, but it does demand adaptation, and it is arriving in hybrid form. Rather than competing with public blockchains, banks are increasingly bridging to them. The emerging model blends traditional balance sheets and risk controls with token-based, programmable infrastructure that can operate across public and hybrid networks.

Initiatives such as the BIS Project Agorá signal this direction: regulated institutions securing core financial plumbing while interoperating with public networks to extend efficiency and reach at scale.

Digital asset exposures

Meanwhile, regulation and capital rules are reshaping another critical layer: custody. Basel III’s capital treatment is raising the cost of holding digital asset exposures inside banks, which is likely to trigger consolidation. The result could be a market dominated by a handful of “super custodians” controlling the majority of institutional assets.

On the infrastructure side, enterprises are also leaving an earlier phase behind. Many are moving away from isolated private blockchains toward application-specific “Layer 3” networks—app-chain architectures that combine the security and interoperability of public networks with tailored compliance, performance, and control.

In parallel, much of this new infrastructure will be embedded behind familiar user experiences, creating an “invisible back end”: fintechs gain the efficiency of on-chain rails while end users are shielded from operational complexity.

One class of user, however, needs no shielding at all: autonomous AI agents. As agentic AI scales, a new transaction environment emerges—machine-to-machine commerce where programmable money is not a feature, but the foundation.

In that world, always-on settlement, embedded compliance, and native programmability become prerequisites rather than differentiators.

At the same time, the business model of exchanges is changing. Digital asset platforms are beginning to resemble financial super-apps—bundling payments, lending, and yield to become full-stack providers.

For crypto-native customers, these platforms may become the primary financial relationship, diversifying revenue far beyond simple trading fees.

Taken together, these shifts point to a future where digital assets are embedded, institutional, and increasingly unavoidable. For business leaders, the real question is no longer whether digital assets matter but how quickly their organisations can adapt, and where in the emerging stack they should compete.

The writer is a principal at Arthur D. Little, Middle East.

Kuwait said Iranian drones struck key energy and infrastructure sites early on Sunday, including power generation and water desalination plants, forcing the shutdown of two electricity units and raising concerns over supply stability.

The Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy confirmed that two power and water desalination facilities were targeted in the attack, resulting in significant material damage.

Two power generating units were taken out of service as a result, according to state news agency KUNA.

Despite the impact, authorities said no casualties were reported.

In a statement, ministry spokesperson Fatima Jawhar Hayat said emergency response plans had been activated immediately, with technical teams working in coordination with relevant authorities to maintain the stability of electricity and water supplies.

All technical teams are working around the clock to ensure service continuity, she said.

Broader infrastructure hit

According to Reuters, a fire also broke out overnight at Kuwait Petroleum Corporation’s Shuwaikh oil complex, which houses the oil ministry and KPC headquarters, following a drone strike.

Separately, an Iranian drone hit a government office complex, causing significant damage but again no reported injuries.

Kuwait’s defence ministry said its air defence systems had engaged multiple missiles and drones that entered the country’s airspace, with explosions heard in some areas attributed to midair interceptions.

Authorities have urged the public to follow official safety guidance as the situation develops.

US President Donald Trump has issued a second 48-hour ultimatum to Iran to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

In a statement on Truth Social on Saturday, Trump said: “Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT. Time is running out – 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them. Glory be to GOD! President DONALD J. TRUMP”

The latest warning comes after Trump issued an initial 48-hour ultimatum on March 22, demanding Iran reopen the Strait or face strikes on its power grid.

That deadline was later postponed for 10 days following what Trump described as “productive” discussions, though Iran denied formal negotiations were taking place.

Disruption persists

The escalation comes as traffic through the Strait remains sharply below normal levels.

Lloyd’s List data shows 53 vessels transited the waterway during Week 13 (March 23–29), the highest weekly total since the disruption began — but still far below typical volumes.

Traffic across March is down around 94 per cent year-on-year, with activity dominated by vessels linked to Iran or operating within the so-called shadow fleet.