The UAE is emerging as one of the most active markets for stablecoin payments, with growing interest from businesses seeking faster settlement times and lower cross-border transaction costs as digital assets move beyond speculative trading.
While cryptocurrency spending is still partly driven by investors converting gains into purchases, industry executives say a broader payments trend is beginning to take shape as freelancers, remote workers and businesses increasingly receive payments in stablecoins and use them for everyday transactions.
“The indicator I watch is the share of spending funded by stablecoins rather than volatile assets,” said Jack Tang, co-founder and CEO of BoomFi. “As that share grows, you’re no longer looking at a trading story. You’re looking at a payments story.”
The shift is attracting the attention of merchants across sectors including travel, hospitality, luxury retail and real estate, all of which cater to international customers and frequently process high-value transactions. According to Tang, businesses are increasingly evaluating stablecoins because they can reduce fees associated with traditional payment networks while shortening settlement times from days to minutes.
“Three things are driving it: reach, cost and regulatory confidence,” he said, adding that the UAE’s payment-token regulations have given companies greater confidence to explore digital-currency payments.
The country’s position as a global trade and tourism hub is also helping accelerate adoption. Many international customers and residents already hold digital dollars, making stablecoin acceptance a potentially attractive option for companies serving cross-border markets.
Despite the momentum, significant infrastructure challenges remain. Industry participants say the technology behind stablecoins is no longer the main obstacle. Instead, adoption is being slowed by the banking, compliance and settlement systems needed to move funds between digital assets and traditional currencies.
“The stablecoin itself isn’t the bottleneck; the infrastructure around it is,” Tang said. He noted that financial institutions typically need to integrate wallets, liquidity providers, compliance tools and banking partners before offering such services at scale.
The next phase of growth is likely to depend on how effectively banks integrate digital assets into existing payment systems. Tang believes the industry’s long-term success will come when merchants and consumers no longer need to think about the technology powering transactions.
“Our view is that the next phase of adoption will be invisible,” he said. “The merchant sees a new payment option in the dashboard they already use and receives dirhams in their account. The customer pays in the currency they already hold.”
Looking ahead, Tang said the UAE is well positioned to become a global centre for digital payments, supported by regulatory alignment, international trade links and the dirham’s peg to the US dollar.
“The UAE won’t just become a regional hub; it is already competing to be a global one,” he said.
Source: Khaleej Times