The government of Dubai has signed an agreement with crypto exchange Crypto.com to launch crypto payments for government services.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The agreement, formalized during the Dubai fintech Summit on May 12, is part of Dubai\u2019s cashless strategy, which hopes to foster the city\u2019s transition to \u201ca fully digital, cashless society,\u201d by introducing \u201ca new digital payment channel across its official platforms,\u201d the Dubai Department of Finance (DOF) said<\/a> on May 12.<\/p>\n Once the service goes live, individuals and business customers of government entities can pay service fees with crypto through Crypto.com\u2019s digital wallets<\/a>. The payments will be converted into dirhams and transferred to DOF accounts, according to the DOF.<\/p>\n Amna Mohammed Lootah, director of digital payment systems regulation, stated that Dubai\u2019s plan is for 90% of financial transactions across the public and private sectors to be powered through cashless methods by 2026.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are confident that this milestone will significantly accelerate the advancement of the Dubai Cashless Strategy,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The DOF didn\u2019t specifically mention which crypto it would start accepting, but did say the payments could be made using \u201cstable cryptocurrencies,\u201d possibly indicating stablecoins<\/a> will be allowed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n A trio of major Abu Dhabi institutions, including the Emirate\u2019s sovereign wealth fund, announced on April 28 a plan to launch<\/a> a new dirham-pegged stablecoin.<\/p>\n The city\u2019s cashless strategy was first announced<\/a> in October 2024. At the time, the DOF said 97% of all government payments in 2023 were already digital.\u00a0<\/p>\n The strategy has also been predicted to add at least 8 billion dirhams ($2.1 billion) to the economy, according to the DOF, fuelled by the development of financial technology services and the accelerated expansion of Dubai\u2019s fintech sector.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ahmad Ali Meftah, executive director of the central accounts sector at DOF, said in a statement the government is still actively developing a regulatory framework that \u201cfosters innovation while ensuring the highest standards of security and efficiency\u201d in digital financial transactions.<\/p>\n Ahmad Ali Meftah (left) said the government is still working on a crypto regulatory framework. Source: <\/em>Dubai Department of Finance<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Dubai is considered a crypto-friendly city. The emirate hosted the Dubai edition of Token2049 between April 30 and May 1 this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Related: <\/strong><\/em>Dubai gov\u2019t agencies to link real estate registry with property tokenization<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Meanwhile, on March 19, the Dubai government started the pilot phase of a project<\/a> to convert real estate assets into digital tokens on the blockchain.\u00a0<\/p>\n Other governments have also floated using crypto for payments. A New York lawmaker introduced legislation in April<\/a> to allow state agencies to accept crypto payments.\u00a0<\/p>\nDuiba\u2019s strategy hopes to spark fintech sector expansion\u00a0<\/h2>\n