UAE central bank to issue CBDC as part of its financial transformation program

The issuance of a CBDC aims to address inefficiencies in cross-border payments and drive innovation for domestic payments. 7534 Total views 32 Total shares Listen to article 0:00 News Own this piece of history

Collect this article as an NFT The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) is planning to launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for cross-border and domestic use as part of the first of its newly-launched financial infrastructure transformation (FIT) program.

In a recent announcement,the CBUAE introduced the FIT program and highlighted its aim to support the countrys financial services sector. The central bank highlighted that the program would promote digital transactions and enable the UAEs competitiveness as a financial and digital payment hub.

The first stage of the FIT program includes the issuance of a CBDC. According to the central bank, the issuance of a CBDC would address the problems and inefficiency of cross-border payments and help drive innovation for domestic payments, respectively. According to Khaled Mohamed Balama, Governor of the CBUAE, the FIT program will support a thriving UAE financial ecosystem and its future growth.

Apart from a CBDC, the government is also planning to launch a unified card payment platform to facilitate the growth of e-commerce and an instant payments platform to support financial inclusion and enable a cashless society during the first stage of the program.

The FIT program has nine initiatives, including the ones that will be implemented in the first stage. Initiatives after the first stage include an e-Know Your Customer platform and an innovation hub.

Related: Lawyer explains new federal virtual asset law in the United Arab Emirates

On Feb. 7, Dubais virtual asset regulatory authority (VARA) released its long-awaited Full Market Product Regulations, which includes comprehensive guides on virtual asset activities for projects operating within the emirate. The laws include a ban on issuing anonymity-enhanced cryptocurrencies, also commonly dubbed as privacy coins, and related activities.

On Feb. 10, various players within the UAE expressed their sentiments in response to the new development. Saqr Ereiqat, the co-founder of Crypto Oasis, recently told Cointelegraph that privacy coins are different from Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), where transactions can be traced. The executive said that they present a unique challenge as they could potentially enable illicit activities. #UAE #Central Bank #CBDC #Regulation

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