Crypto.com wins UAE central bank license to let residents pay government bills with crypto

Crypto.com, headquartered in Singapore with more than 150 million registered users, just became the first crypto company to secure a Stored Value Facilities (SVF) license from the Central Bank of the UAE. Residents in Dubai are now able to pay government fees with digital assets.

“We are now able to offer what no other digital asset platform can, by providing exclusive digital asset payment services for Dubai Government fees to residents in the UAE,” Mohammed Al Hakim, who serves as President and GM for the UAE and Bahrain, said in a statement, noting that the partnership with Dubai Finance would support the emirate’s cashless strategy while helping advance the future of digital payments in the UAE.

The license, granted this month, to Crypto.com’s regional subsidiary Foris DAX Middle East FZE, activates a partnership with the Dubai Department of Finance that funnels crypto payments into the emirate’s public coffers.

All settlements convert into UAE dirhams or central-bank-approved dirham-backed stablecoins, so the government never actually holds volatile crypto on its books.

Pending additional central bank sign-offs, Crypto.com plans to roll out payment integrations with Emirates Airlines and Dubai Duty Free.

Dubai’s cashless targets and the regulatory backstory

Dubai’s Cashless Strategy aims to digitize 90% of all transactions by the end of 2026. The emirate estimates the annual economic upside of going cashless at roughly AED 8 billion, or about $2.2 billion.

Crypto.com picked up a full VARA license before pursuing the stored value facilities approval, which the central bank first gave preliminary blessing to in October 2025.

The company also formed a partnership with DMCC, Dubai’s leading trade and business free zone, to explore tokenised real-world assets and blockchain infrastructure for commodities markets.

Additional efforts include joint programs with the DMCC Crypto Centre, such as workshops, hackathons, and training initiatives to support businesses adopting tokenised asset models.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.