Abu Dhabi-based Common Digital has launched USDU, the primary US greenback‑backed stablecoin to be registered by the Central Financial institution of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) as a International Fee Token below the Fee Token Companies Regulation (PTSR), the corporate mentioned.
In line with a launch shared with Cointelegraph, the registration makes Common the UAE’s first International Fee Token Issuer and creates a transparent, regulated US greenback‑denominated settlement choice for digital belongings within the UAE.
Juha Viitala, a senior govt officer of Common, advised Cointelegraph that the PTSR had allowed a transition interval for cost token issuers to turn into PTSR-compliant and that, amongst all of the USD stablecoins, USDU was the primary to acquire such registration.
USDU and the UAE’s cost token regime
Common is regulated by Abu Dhabi International Market’s Monetary Companies Regulatory Authority (FSRA) with permission to difficulty a fiat‑referenced token and is now concurrently registered with the CBUAE for cost‑token actions.
Viitala mentioned that this twin oversight imposed a “greater degree of self-discipline throughout reserve custody, governance, disclosures, and operational controls,” and that, for establishments, that distinction was materials as a result of “registration gives a clearer compliance pathway for sure regulated use circumstances.”
Regulated establishments, similar to banks, brokers and licensed venues within the UAE, now have a central‑financial institution‑registered US greenback token they will plug into present compliance, settlement and reporting workflows.
Below the PTSR, funds for digital belongings and digital asset derivatives within the UAE might solely be carried out in fiat or a Registered International Fee Token.
Whereas world stablecoins similar to Tether’s USDt (USDT) and Circle’s USDC (USDC) are broadly utilized by UAE‑based mostly merchants by way of exchanges and over-the-counter desks, they aren’t registered below the CBUAE’s cost token regime, that means USDU is at present the one US greenback stablecoin that formally meets these necessities, Viitala defined.
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Reserve construction and banking companions
USDU is issued as an ERC‑20 token on Ethereum and is designed for institutional {and professional} use, with a conservative reserve construction and direct banking integration.
Reserves are absolutely backed 1:1 by US {dollars} held in safeguarded onshore accounts at Emirates NBD and Mashreq, with Mbank appearing as a strategic company banking associate and a world accounting agency offering month-to-month impartial attestations.
Viitala mentioned that the banking companions supplied reserve custody and safeguarding, whereas the issuer remained chargeable for assembly its obligations.
“Consumer confidence stems from the mixture of regulated banking custody, recurring third-party attestations, and regulatory oversight,” he mentioned.
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Institutional distribution by way of Aquanow
The agency can be working with AE Coin, an Emirate dirham-denominated stablecoin licensed by the Central Financial institution of the UAE, to allow future conversion between USDU and AE Coin for home settlement, aligning US greenback and dirham cost tokens throughout the similar regulatory perimeter.
Common has appointed Aquanow, regulated below Dubai’s Digital Belongings Regulatory Authority (VARA), as its world distribution associate to develop institutional entry to USDU and combine it into regulated digital asset infrastructure, together with on- and off‑ramp and settlement use circumstances.
Whereas USDU can be utilized for UAE home cost of digital belongings and derivatives, it’s not permitted for common retail funds within the mainland, the place dirham‑denominated devices stay the usual.
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