Abu Dhabi’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority cleared Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin for institutional use within the ADGM financial zone, recognizing RLUSD as an Accepted Fiat-Referenced Token.

Ripple is accelerating UAE regulatory adoption with approvals across the UAE: in late 2024 it sought a DFSA license, in early 2025 it won full approval to offer cross-border crypto payments in DIFC, and in mid-2025 the DFSA cleared RLUSD for use by DIFC-based firms in payments and treasury activities.

This combination of ADGM recognition, DIFC approval, and nationwide oversight positions RLUSD to broaden its role in institutional settlement, payments, and collateral use across the UAE.

RLUSD issuance on Ethereum reached about 1.011 billion tokens, rising more than 30% month over month, with XRPL issuance up 92.6% to 225 million RLUSD.

RLUSD market capitalization hit a record around $1.261 billion in November, driven by on-chain minting on both Ethereum and XRPL.

Analysts estimate RLUSD could crack the top five stablecoins by market cap, though it currently sits 13th; surpassing MakerDAO’s DAI would be needed to move into the top five.

RLUSD minting is institutional-only, with retail users barred from creating RLUSD.

The broader UAE crypto regulatory landscape is evolving, with ADGM and other hubs expanding oversight, though specifics on RLUSD’s broader implementation beyond ADGM acceptance are not detailed.

RLUSD launched in late 2024 under a limited-purpose trust charter from the New York Department of Financial Services, pegged 1:1 to the USD and fully backed by cash and cash equivalents.

A new UAE central bank law (Federal Decree Law No. 6 of 2025) extends regulatory oversight to DeFi and Web3, requiring Central Bank licenses by September 2026 for entities involved in payments, lending, custody, exchanges or investment services.

This centralization signals a broader UAE strategy to supervise crypto and Web3 activity under a unified framework, with RLUSD and related infrastructure likely to benefit.

The expansion of RLUSD is framed as part of broader Middle East adoption, with UAE regulatory approvals and Ripple’s XRP-backed infrastructure underpinning growth.

FSRA’s decision aligns with Abu Dhabi’s Digital Asset Regulatory Framework updates designed to accelerate institutional adoption under tighter oversight.

Ripple expanded its UAE footprint by onboarding adopters like Zand Bank and the fintech app Mamo to use Ripple Payments for institutional transfers, signaling growing use cases.

Early UAE partnerships have been established through Ripple Payments with Zand Bank and Mamo to enable institutional transfers.