Ripple’s stablecoin RLUSD was approved by the regulator for use in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and will also be involved in a real estate tokenization project in Dubai.
Ripple Labs announced that the stablecoin RLUSD was officially approved by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) for use within the DIFC.
RLUSD will serve as a means of payment in a real estate tokenization project based on the XRP Ledger blockchain network, implemented by the Central Bank of the UAE, the Dubai Land Department (DLD), and the Dubai Future Foundation (DFF).
RLUSD is one of the few stablecoins issued under a license from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). It’s backed 1:1 with U.S. dollar-denominated assets, undergoes mandatory audits, features segregated reserves, and offers guaranteed redemption rights, making it suitable for both regulators and institutional clients.
According to the press release, RLUSD is designed specifically for enterprise use, primarily for cross-border payments, offering high speed, low cost, and transaction transparency.
As of the end of 2024, around 7,000 companies operated within the DIFC. Now, all DFSA-licensed entities will be able to integrate RLUSD into their virtual asset services. The first to adopt Ripple’s stablecoin will be digital bank Zand Bank and FinTech platform Mamo.
It’s worth noting that Zand Bank was among the first clients of Ripple Payments in the DIFC and serves as a banking partner in the Dubai real estate tokenization project.
According to Chainalysis, stablecoin transaction volume in the UAE grew by 55% year-over-year in 2024. Given the UAE’s international trade volume exceeding $400 billion and its progressive digital asset regulations, the country is one of the leading regional crypto hubs.
