UAE: federal level
The Central Bank of the UAE's Payment Token Services Regulation (Circular 2/2024) has been in force since July 6, 2024 and covers three activities — issuance, conversion, and custody and transfer of payment tokens; the transition period ended on July 6, 2025. Only dirham payment tokens are permitted for domestic payments; foreign payment tokens are limited to purchases of virtual assets. The new Central Bank law (Federal Decree-Law 6/2025, effective September 16, 2025) extended licensing to entities facilitating licensed activity through any channel, with a transition period to September 2026.
A line of dirham stablecoins has formed on this basis. AE Coin from AED Stablecoin LLC received in-principle approval on October 14, 2024 and a full licence on December 11, 2024 — the first licensed dirham payment token; in January 2026 Network International and Mbank agreed to accept it at merchants. DDSC is the token announced on April 28, 2025 by IHC, ADQ and First Abu Dhabi Bank; Central Bank approval to go live came on February 11, 2026 (IHC, Sirius International Holding and FAB), on ADI Chain; in July 2026 a no-objection certificate was issued for listings on VARA-regulated exchanges after more than AED 150 million in the institutional phase, and in September 2026 an in-store payment pilot began with Network International. Zand Bank received approval on November 17, 2025 for Zand AED (AEDZ), issued by Zand Trust on public blockchains using Taurus technology; on January 7, 2026 RAKBANK became the first conventional bank with in-principle approval for a dirham token. USDU from Universal Digital (regulated by the ADGM FSRA) became on January 29, 2026 the first foreign payment token registered by the Central Bank, with reserves at Emirates NBD, Mashreq and Mbank. Tether's dirham token, announced in August 2024 with Phoenix Group, had not launched as of September 2026 according to available sources. The Digital Dirham — the Central Bank's CBDC — remains in pilot: the first government-to-government transaction ran on November 12, 2025 via mBridge.
UAE: Dubai (VARA, DIFC) and Abu Dhabi (ADGM)
VARA regulates virtual assets in Dubai outside the DIFC; dirham-linked fiat tokens are excluded from its perimeter in favour of the Central Bank. VARA's public register lists Binance (April 2024), OKX (September 2024), Crypto.com (April 2024), Laser Digital (July 2023), Fasset (November 2023), Fuze (November 2023), Aquanow (July 2024), BitOasis (November 2024), Ctrl Alt (May 2025) and ARP Digital (August 2026); Bybit operates under a federal SCA licence (October 2025). In the DIFC, the DFSA recognised USDC and EURC as the first stablecoins on February 24, 2025 and RLUSD in June 2025; from January 12, 2026 the list of recognised tokens was replaced by self-assessment criteria, with reserves required in the reference currency. Ripple obtained a DFSA licence on March 13, 2025 and opened its regional headquarters in the DIFC in May 2026; on July 2, 2026 Standard Chartered became the first global systemically important bank to give institutional clients USDC minting and redemption through a single onboarding, starting with its DIFC operations. In ADGM, the FSRA introduced a fiat-referenced token regime after its August 2024 consultation; Circle received in-principle approval on April 29, 2025 and a full money services provider licence on December 9, 2025. Paxos wound down its ADGM-issued USDL: minting stopped on October 8, 2025 and redemptions ended on December 8, 2025.
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Israel
In July 2025 the Central Bank of Bahrain introduced its Stablecoin Issuance and Offering module: tokens in dinars, dollars and other approved currencies with full reserves, redemption within five business days and base capital of BHD 250,000; the first issuer licence went to AX Coin Bahrain (a Solowin Holdings subsidiary) on June 3, 2026. Saudi Arabia has no stablecoin regime; in November 2025 Minister Majed Al-Hogail announced plans for nationally regulated stablecoins under SAMA and CMA oversight. Qatar's QFC Digital Assets Framework (September 2024) explicitly excludes cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and CBDCs from regulated tokens. The Bank of Israel published principles for stablecoin regulation in February 2023 (full reserves, redemption within two business days, a ban on algorithmic models) and in December 2025 called stablecoins systemically relevant while advancing its digital shekel roadmap; two key custody infrastructure vendors have Israeli roots — Fireblocks (founded in Tel Aviv in 2018, headquartered in New York) and Utila (2022, over $50 million raised).
Market and corridors
Per Chainalysis for 2025, MENA volume grew 33% year on year, the UAE received $53–56 billion in on-chain value, Türkiye about $200 billion and Israel $22 billion. Outbound remittances from the UAE totalled AED 183 billion (about $50 billion) in 2024 — the second-largest hub after the US; the main corridors are India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Egypt and Bangladesh. The card networks' settlement layer arrives through partners: Visa launched USDC settlement for CEMEA financial institutions via Aquanow in November 2025, and Mastercard began cross-border payments with Zand in August 2025. Türkiye — the largest MENA market by volume — features in infrastructure through Paribu's acquisition of Bahrain's CoinMENA for up to $240 million (December 2025).
Participants
| Company | Type | Headquarters | Role and status as of September 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fasset | 3 | Dubai (VARA) / Los Angeles | Founded 2019; VARA licence (November 2023), Labuan FSA (Malaysia) approval to pilot a stablecoin-based Islamic bank (October 2025); $51M Series B (May 2026) and $68M Series C (August 2026, SBI) at a $1B valuation; reported $40B annualized volume, 125 countries; Visa card with Tether's gold token (April 2026) |
| AED Stablecoin LLC (AE Coin) | 2 | UAE | Full CBUAE licence on December 11, 2024 — the first dirham payment token; acceptance via Network International and Mbank (January 2026) |
| DDSC (IHC, Sirius, FAB) | 8 | Abu Dhabi | CBUAE approval on February 11, 2026; ADI Chain; over AED 150M in the institutional phase; VARA exchange listings and a retail pilot (2026) |
| Zand Bank / Zand Trust | 8 | Dubai | The UAE's first fully digital bank; Zand AED (AEDZ) approved November 17, 2025; partners Taurus, Ripple Payments, Mastercard, Klickl |
| RAKBANK | 8 | Ras Al Khaimah | CBUAE in-principle approval for a dirham token on January 7, 2026 — the first conventional bank |
| Universal Digital (USDU) | 2 | Abu Dhabi (ADGM) | The first foreign payment token registered by the CBUAE (January 2026); reserves at Emirates NBD, Mashreq, Mbank; distribution via Aquanow |
| Circle | 2 | Abu Dhabi (ADGM) | FSRA money services provider licence (December 2025); USDC and EURC recognised by the DFSA (February 2025); profile in the Stablecoins section |
| Ripple | 1 / 4 | Dubai (DIFC) | DFSA licence (March 2025), RLUSD recognised in the DIFC (June 2025); regional headquarters in the DIFC (May 2026); clients Zand, Mamo, Ctrl Alt |
| Standard Chartered (DIFC) | 7 / 3 | Dubai (DIFC) | USDC minting and redemption for institutional clients through the bank (July 2026); fiat rails for CoinMENA |
| Aquanow | 3 / 4 | Vancouver; VARA licence | Liquidity and settlement for banks; Visa USDC settlement for CEMEA (November 2025); banking partnership with SGB (Bahrain); USDU distribution |
| Fuze | 7 | Abu Dhabi (Hub71) | Founded December 2022; VARA licence (November 2023) and CBUAE retail payment services licence (April 2025); $12.2M Series A (May 2025, Galaxy, e& capital); in August 2025 VARA took enforcement action over AML and governance deficiencies, licence retained |
| Klickl | 1 / 5 | Abu Dhabi (ADGM) | Founded 2017 (ex-IDCM); FSRA in-principle approval (September 2022); USDT/USDC settlement; Zand partnership (January 2025) |
| Laser Digital (Nomura) | 6 / 4 | Zurich; Dubai (VARA) | Founded 2022; VARA licence (July 2023), ADGM in-principle approval (September 2023); institutional trading and custody |
| Mamo | 1 | Dubai (DIFC) | DFSA payment services licence (October 2022); Ripple Payments partner (May 2025); fiat payments for small businesses |
| ARP Digital | 4 | Manama | CBB Category 3 licence, VARA licence (August 2026); settlement partnerships with BBK and stc Pay (October 2025); co-founded by the Kanoo family and Yusuf Alireza |
| CoinMENA | 3 | Manama / Dubai | CBB Category 3 licence, VARA broker-dealer (November 2023); acquired by Paribu (Türkiye) in December 2025 for up to $240M |
| Rain (Bahrain) | 3 | Manama | CBB Category 3 crypto-asset services provider, founded 2017; unrelated to the US card platform Rain |
| AX Coin Bahrain (Solowin) | 2 | Manama | The first CBB stablecoin issuer licence (June 2026) |
| BitOasis | 3 | Dubai | Founded 2016; owned by CoinDCX since July 2024; VARA licence (November 2024); Bahrain launch (May 2025) |
| Fireblocks | 6 | New York (founded in Tel Aviv) | Custody and payments infrastructure; co-author of the UAE Stablecoin Payments Playbook (July 2026); profile in the North America map |
| Utila | 6 | Tel Aviv / New York | Founded 2022; over $50M raised, including a $22M Series A extension (September 2025); MPC wallets and stablecoin operations |
What to watch
- The retail launch of DDSC and the full launch of Zand AED and RAKBANK's token; the fate of Tether's dirham token.
- The Digital Dirham's move from pilot to corporate and retail phases.
- The end of the transition period under the new UAE Central Bank law (September 2026) for payment and crypto companies.
- The first stablecoins under Bahrain's SIO module and a Saudi framework under SAMA and CMA oversight.
- The Bank of Israel's recommendations on stablecoins and the digital shekel by the end of 2026.