Stablecoins are, undoubtedly, the main operating assets in digital finance. Visa’s stablecoin analytics dashboard showed more than $51 trillion in total transaction volume over the past 12 months.

Meanwhile, TRM Labs estimated stablecoins at 30% of all on-chain crypto transaction volume in 2025. This one asset category carried almost one-third of tracked crypto value movement, while Bitcoin and all other altcoins together accounted for the remaining share.

Almost every blockchain activity today runs through these dollar-pegged assets, whether it’s trading, treasury movement, or cross-border settlement. 

So, stablecoins are arguably the most explosive asset class in terms of growth. What’s the next phase? As with any financial product, its adoption. And that can only happen through local-currency settlement, regulated access, and payment use cases tied to national economies. 

In the UAE, this is already happening.  

UAE’s Financial Future is Running on Stablecoins

Chainalysis estimated more than $56 billion in crypto value received by the country during its 2024 to 2025 reporting window, up 33% year over year, with institutional transfers driving a large share of activity and merchant services expanding across smaller retail transaction sizes.

On July 3, 2026, DDSC, the UAE dirham-backed stablecoin developed by International Holding Company, First Abu Dhabi Bank, and Sirius International Holding, received approval from the Central Bank of the UAE to partner with selected exchange platforms regulated by Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority. 

The approval gives DDSC a regulated route from institutional settlement into wider market access, allowing users to access, buy, and redeem a dirham-backed stablecoin through compliant exchange channels.

A Dirham Stablecoin for a Dollar-Dominated Market

Most stablecoin liquidity today remains tied to the US dollar. This gives global crypto markets deep liquidity and a familiar settlement currency, while domestic payment use cases still depend on conversion, exchange access, and banking relationships.

DDSC brings a local-currency option into the UAE’s own monetary environment. Pegged 1:1 to the UAE dirham and settled on ADI Chain, the token gives users a digital asset denominated in AED instead of forcing local commerce into dollar units.

This distinction is important for payment adoption because UAE shoppers, merchants, suppliers, and treasury teams all price everyday obligations in dirhams.

A stable asset in AED can keep pricing and settlement aligned while adding blockchain settlement speed, programmable payments, and 24/7 availability.

The UAE has already built much of the regulatory base around this category: 

• The Central Bank’s Payment Token Services Regulation created a framework for stablecoin-related services, including issuance, conversion, custody and transfer. 
• VARA maintains a public register of licensed Virtual Asset Service Providers in Dubai, including platforms authorized for exchange services.

DDSC connects these two regulatory channels. Central Bank approval covers the payment-token side, while access through selected VARA-regulated platforms gives users a familiar exchange route into the asset.

From Treasury Flows to Everyday Payments

DDSC entered the market with an institutional focus. Since launch, IHC says it has processed more than AED 150 million in transactions. In May 2026, IHC executed an AED 110 million DDSC transaction on ADI Chain, presented as one of the region’s largest disclosed stablecoin transactions.

DDSC is more than able to support high-value settlement. The new approval, therefore, adds distribution, giving individuals, merchants, and businesses a route to acquire and redeem the asset through regulated exchange platforms.

DDSC is left with a more complete adoption path. Large transactions can prove settlement capacity, while exchange availability can bring the asset into daily commercial use. The first phase demonstrated settlement readiness, and the next phase focuses on availability through licensed venues.

VARA-Regulated Platforms and Compliance Control

The approval applies to selected exchange platforms regulated by VARA, giving DDSC a controlled rollout through licensed channels and keeping access aligned with the UAE’s compliance framework.

For context, VARA oversees virtual asset activity in and from Dubai, excluding the Dubai International Financial Centre. Its public register lists licensed Virtual Asset Service Providers and the activities each provider is authorized to offer, including exchange services, broker-dealer services, custody, lending and investment management.

Indeed, stablecoin payments touch redemption confidence, merchant settlement, AML controls, custody, user access, and financial institution requirements. Exchange access through regulated platforms helps combine these requirements within a market structure users already understand.

DDSC’s rollout also shows how the UAE is separating regulated payment tokens from general crypto assets. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and volatile tokens continue to serve trading and investment use cases, while stablecoins such as DDSC are designed around payment value, redemption, and settlement.

This gives businesses a more suitable instrument for pricing, invoices, supplier transfers and customer payments.

A View Toward Merchant and Business Payments

IHC said the stablecoin can support everyday payments once available through selected regulated platforms, including shoppers paying merchants, businesses settling with suppliers and transfers between people.

Retail customers want fast payments, merchants want predictable settlement, and businesses want lower operational friction across invoices, treasury, and cross-border counterparties. There is no doubt that stablecoins can support these flows when they combine price stability, reliable redemption, and regulatory acceptance.

DDSC’s AED designation gives it a local advantage. A UAE merchant accepting a dollar stablecoin still faces accounting and FX conversion work. A dirham-backed token fits local pricing more naturally, while on-chain settlement can reduce delays linked to banking hours and intermediary processing.

A Local Currency Asset for the UAE Digital Economy

The UAE has spent years building a regulated digital asset environment across Abu Dhabi, Dubai and federal authorities. DDSC adds a local-currency payment asset to this environment, backed by major UAE institutions and aligned with the Central Bank’s payment-token framework.

DDSC’s growth ultimately depends on platform availability, merchant acceptance, redemption experience and business integration. 

Even so, its Central Bank approval to partner with selected VARA-regulated exchange platforms brings the UAE dirham further into on-chain finance and gives the country’s digital asset market a regulated payment token built for domestic use and future regional settlement.

Source: BeInCrypto