Universal has launched what it calls the UAE’s first Central Bank-registered US dollar stablecoin, USDU. The Central Bank of the UAE has registered a foreign payment token that enables compliant US dollar settlement for digital assets, with reserves held onshore at Emirates NBD and Mashreq and monthly independent attestations. A regulated US dollar stablecoin reduces cross-border friction and aligns local finance with global dollar-based systems, and adoption will hinge on institutional due diligence, onboarding and integration, with risks varying across operations and regulation.
USDU is not just dollar-backed; it carries a UAE Central Bank registration under the Payment Token Services Regulation, with reserves held onshore and monthly attestations. This matters because most existing dollar stablecoins are regulated elsewhere, which can introduce counterparty and jurisdictional risk for conservative institutions despite broad usage. A UAE central bank-approved structure offers something different by positioning the UAE as a hub for regulated digital dollars in the future settlement layer of global trade.
Programmatic, near-instant settlement in dollars is not a ‘nice-to-have’; it is a competitive advantage. All of that said, a dose of skepticism is healthy, and Henri Arslanian, co-founder of ACX Compliance, called it a positive development for the UAE to play a bigger role in the $300 billion stablecoin ecosystem, noting the UAE could become a global crypto hub. USDU may or may not become the dominant regulated digital dollar, and the outcome remains open. What is clear is that the UAE is embedding itself into the infrastructure of global finance, a step that historically compounds value.
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