The Central Bank of the UAE’s Payment Token Services Regulation is the UAE’s federal framework for payment-token services involving stablecoin-style digital assets. The CBUAE Rulebook identifies the measure as Circular No. 2/2024 and lists the regime as in force, although editors should confirm the official-gazette publication date because CBUAE pages show differing effective-date metadata. As of June 16, 2026, the transition period is reported to have ended, placing the framework in its operational phase.
Scope of the CBUAE Payment Token Services Regulation
The regulation covers “Payment Token Services,” a defined category of digital payment services that includes payment token issuance, payment token conversion, and payment token custody and transfer. It is aimed at payment tokens that maintain, or purport to maintain, a stable value by reference to a fiat currency or another payment token denominated in the same fiat currency. In practical market terms, the regime is directed primarily at fiat-referenced stablecoins rather than the full universe of crypto assets.
The framework distinguishes between Dirham Payment Tokens and Foreign Payment Tokens. Dirham Payment Token activity generally requires a CBUAE licence. Foreign Payment Token issuers and certain service providers may be subject to registration or non-objection routes, including where the entity is outside the UAE or in a financial free zone. The regulation also interacts with UAE virtual asset regulation because entities licensed by the Securities and Commodities Authority or Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority may still need CBUAE authorisation when their activities involve payment-token services.
Key provisions for stablecoin licensing and payments
- Licensing and registration: Persons performing payment-token issuance, conversion, custody, or transfer in the UAE, or directed to persons in the UAE, must fall within the CBUAE licence, registration, or non-objection structure.
- Token restrictions: The regime restricts services and promotions involving non-payment tokens, algorithmic stablecoins, and privacy tokens. It also limits the circumstances in which Foreign Payment Tokens may be used as a means of payment.
- Reserve and redemption controls: Licensed issuers must maintain reserve arrangements for issued payment tokens. The Rulebook also includes issuance, redemption, safekeeping, and tokenholder-right provisions intended to support confidence in payment-token value.
- White papers and disclosures: Payment Token Issuers must submit a white paper to the Central Bank for review and acceptance before selling or transferring the token to another person.
- AML/CFT and operational safeguards: The regulation treats payment-token services as carrying elevated financial-crime risks and layers in AML/CFT, governance, data protection, technology-risk, business-continuity, outsourcing, and customer-protection expectations.
Jurisdictional impact in the United Arab Emirates
The regulation is a CBUAE payment-services framework, not a general securities or commodities rule. Its primary legal perimeter is the use of payment tokens as means of payment and the businesses that issue, convert, safeguard, or transfer them. That makes the framework especially relevant to stablecoin issuers, payment firms, exchanges, custodians, banks, exchange houses, fintech platforms, and merchants evaluating payment-token acceptance in the UAE.
For foreign tokens, the regulation appears intentionally narrower than a general permission for crypto payments. Regulatory commentary indicates that Foreign Payment Token use is tied to registered issuers and specified virtual-asset or virtual-asset-derivative transactions, while broader UAE goods-and-services acceptance is primarily aligned with CBUAE-approved Dirham Payment Tokens. This profile is descriptive only and should not be treated as legal or compliance advice.
Status and timeline
CBUAE Rulebook metadata describes the regulation as in force. Article 42 states that the regulation is to be published in the Official Gazette in Arabic and English and come into effect one month from publication. Most CBUAE Rulebook pages indexed for the regulation show an effective date of August 31, 2024, while Article 42 displays August 21, 2024. Secondary sources also report a one-year transition period that ended in June 2025. Editors should verify the official-gazette publication date and final transition calculation before relying on a single commencement date.