IHC, FAB, Sirius get Central Bank nod to launch dirham-backed stablecoin

IHC, Sirius International Holding, and First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) have received approval from the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) for the UAE dirham-backed stablecoin DDSC to go live.

With approval to go live, DDSC now enters its operational phase. This marks a substantive step forward in aligning institutional finance with the evolving digital-asset economy.

The stablecoin will operate on ADI Chain, an institutional Layer-2 blockchain developed by the Abu Dhabi-based ADI Foundation.

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DDSC first announced the initiative in April 2025, led by IHC and FAB. Now, in its operational phase, Sirius International Holding joins to support deployment, integration, and institutional adoption.

The stablecoin is expected to be made available to FAB customers through multiple approved platforms, supporting institutional and enterprise use cases while maintaining the highest standards of compliance, transparency and operational integrity.

DDSC will support high-value applications with a regulatory framework, including payments and collections; high-value settlement and treasury operations; trade and supply-chain flows; and programmable financial services for regulated entities.

“With the Central Bank’s approval and our transition into live operation, we are delivering trusted, institutional-grade infrastructure that strengthens resilience, accelerates innovation, and expands what is possible in regulated digital payments,” said Syed Basar Shueb, CEO of IHC.

“As a UAE dirham-backed, programmable stablecoin, DDSC is designed to modernise payments, settlement, and treasury workflows, while enabling secure, automated value transfer, including future machine-to-machine transactions and trade between AI agents as the autonomous economy evolves,” he said.

Futoon Hamdan AlMazrouei, group head of personal, business, wealth and privileged client banking group at First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), said stablecoins can be integrated responsibly into the financial system when built to meet rigorous regulatory and risk requirements.

“FAB is enabling DDSC to seamlessly combine regulatory oversight with blockchain infrastructure, providing secure, scalable solutions that support institutional and government clients across the UAE’s evolving digital economy,” he added.

“With DDSC now live, we are entering a new phase of regulated digital finance. Sirius will support this national initiative by helping accelerate adoption and unlock real-world institutional applications, enabled by ADI’s sovereign blockchain infrastructure and underpinned by the UAE’s clear regulatory leadership,” said Ajay Hans Raj Bhatia, group CEO of Sirius International Holding.