Universal Digital has become the UAE’s first foreign payment token issuer registered by the Central Bank, launching USDU as the country’s first USD backed stablecoin to receive nationwide regulatory approval for institutional digital asset settlement. The Abu Dhabi Global Market regulated entity said its USDU stablecoin is registered under the UAE’s Payment Token Services Regulation, which requires that payments for digital assets and digital asset derivatives in the UAE must be conducted in fiat or a registered foreign payment token. With USDU currently the only token holding this registration, it provides the first compliant USD settlement option for digital asset transactions across the UAE.
USDU is restricted to professional clients and limited to digital asset settlement purposes rather than general payments. This follows the Central Bank’s approval of multiple dirham stablecoins, including the AECoin in December 2024, ZAND AED in November 2025 and the preliminary approval of RAKBANK’s digital currency this month. Universal plans to enable future USDU to AECoin conversion for domestic settlement.
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