Dubai opens government payments to crypto users
UAE regulators granted Crypto.com exclusive approval to process government-related crypto payments through a dirham-backed settlement framework.
Dubai residents will be able to pay government fees using virtual assets after Crypto.com’s UAE entity, Foris DAX Middle East FZE, received a Stored Value Facilities licence from the Central Bank of the UAE.
Crypto.com said the approval makes it the first Virtual Asset Service Provider in the UAE to receive the licence. It allows the company to activate its partnership with the Dubai Department of Finance, enabling virtual asset payments for government services.
Financial settlements will be conducted in UAE dirhams or Central Bank-approved dirham-backed stablecoins through the regulated Stored Value Facilities framework. Crypto.com said the arrangement supports the Dubai Cashless Strategy.
Users wishing to access the service will need to be onboarded through Crypto.com’s VARA-licensed platform. The company also said that, subject to further Central Bank approvals, the licence could support crypto payment integrations with Emirates and Dubai Duty Free.
Crypto.com executives described the approval as a step towards regulated digital asset adoption in the UAE, while linking it to the country’s wider push for compliant crypto infrastructure and digital payments innovation.
Why does it matter?
The development shows how Dubai is moving virtual asset payments closer to public-sector infrastructure, rather than treating them only as investment products or private-sector payment experiments. By routing payments through a regulated Stored Value Facilities framework and settling them in dirhams or approved dirham-backed stablecoins, the model links crypto access with conventional payment oversight, financial regulation and the emirate’s cashless economy strategy.
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