UAE expects digital dirham rollout in Q4 2025
The United Arab Emirates expects its digital dirham central bank digital currency to roll out in the fourth quarter of 2025.
According to a report in the Khaleej Times, Central Bank of the UAE Governor Khaled Mohamed Balama reportedly said that the blockchain-based currency could improve financial stability and help combat financial crime. According to the report, the retail sector could expect the issuance of a digital dirham in the last quarter of 2025.
“It [digital dirham] will further enable the development of innovative digital products, services, and new business models while reducing cost and increasing access to international markets,” Balama reportedly said.
The report also stated that the digital dirham and its physical counterpart will be accepted as a payment method in all payment channels.
The news comes as the digital dirham received a rebrand. The first letter of the dirham will be its international symbol, along with two horizontal lines representing the currency’s stability, inspired by the UAE flag.
The new symbol for UAE dirhams. Source: Khaleej Times
The road to digital dirhams in the UAE
In June 2024, the CBUAE approved a licensing framework for regulating stablecoins. In a meeting with the CBUAE board of directors in Abu Dhabi, UAE officials discussed the government’s financial infrastructure program and approved the framework. The new rules clarified the issuance, licensing and supervision of payment tokens backed by the UAE dirham.
Following the framework’s approval, stablecoin issuer Tether announced its plans to launch a dirham-backed stablecoin with local partners Phoenix Group and Green Acorn Investments. The collaboration aims to establish a fully-backed digital representation of the UAE dirham currency.
After the framework approval, other players joined the race to create a dirham-backed stablecoin. On Oct. 18, 2024, a company called AED Stablecoin received in-principle approval for issuing a regulated dirham-pegged stablecoin in the UAE.
On Nov. 1, The Open Network (TON) announced that Tether’s dirham-pegged stablecoin will be launched on its blockchain network.
Related: Abu Dhabi’s financial free zone signs MoU with Chainlink for tokenization frameworks
Stablecoins in the UAE
Apart from dirham-backed stablecoins, US dollar and euro stablecoins have also gained traction in the country.
On Feb. 24, the Dubai Financial Services Authority, the independent regulator for the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), recognized Circle’s USDC and EURC as the first stablecoins under its crypto token regime.
Meanwhile, a Ripple spokesperson previously told Cointelegraph that the company is working to understand the country’s stablecoin requirements. The spokesperson said they are monitoring the developments closely and that their RLUSD stablecoin is available in the UAE.
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The European Union is considering a partial halt to its landmark artificial intelligence laws in response to pressure from the US government and Big Tech companies.
The European Commission plans to ease part of its digital rulebook, including the AI Act that took effect last year, as part of a “simplification package” that is to be decided on Nov. 19, the Financial Times reported on Friday.
If approved, the proposed halt could allow generative AI providers currently operating in the market a one-year compliance grace period and delay enforcement of fines for violations of AI transparency rules until August 2027.
“When it comes to potentially delaying the implementation of targeted parts of the AI Act, a reflection is still ongoing,” the commission’s Thomas Regnier told Cointelegraph, adding that the EC is working on the digital omnibus to present it on Nov. 19.
EU’s AI Act entered into force in August 2024
The commission proposed the first EU AI law in April 2021, with the mission of establishing a risk-based AI classification system.
Passed by the European Parliament and the European Council in 2023, the European AI Act entered into force in August 2024, with provisions expected to be implemented gradually over the next six to 36 months.
According to the FT, a bulk of the provisions for high-risk AI systems, which can pose “serious risks” to health, safety or citizens’ fundamental rights, are set to come into effect in August 2026.
With the draft “simplification” proposal, companies breaching the rules on the highest-risk AI use could reportedly receive a “grace period” of one year.
Related: EU mulls SEC-like oversight for stock, crypto exchanges to bolster startup landscape
The proposal is still subject to informal discussions within the commission and with EU states and could still change ahead of its adoption on Nov. 19, the report noted.
“Various options are being considered, but no formal decision has been taken at this stage,” the EC’s Regnier told Cointelegraph, adding: “The commission will always remain fully behind the AI Act and its objectives.”
“AI is an incredibly disruptive technology, the full implications of which we are still only just beginning to fully appreciate,” Mercuryo co-founder and CEO Petr Kozyakov said, adding:
“Ultimately, Europe’s competitiveness will depend on its ability to set high standards without creating barriers that may risk letting innovation take place elsewhere.”
The EU’s potential suspension of parts of the AI Act underscores Brussels’ evolving approach to digital regulation amid intensifying global competition from the US and China.
After the US explicitly banned central bank digital currency (CBDC) development in early 2025, the European Central Bank accelerated work on the digital euro but later said that digital cash would not launch before 2029.
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