In a first-of-its kind milestone announcement, the Government of Dubai has announced the signing of an MoU with crypto.com to enable payment of government service fees with large cap cryptocurrencies.
The announcement comes weeks after Eric Anziani, President and COO of Crypto.com met Maktoum Bin Mohammed, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. The pioneering partnership thus hints at more opportunities for closer ties between the world number 4 exchange and Dubai.
The MoU – How This Works:
The MoU, signed on the sidelines of the Dubai FinTech Summit, will allow individuals and business customers of government entities to pay service fees including in use cases like parking via the digital wallets on Crypto.com.
“The platform will securely convert these payments into Emirati dirhams and transfer them to Dubai Finance accounts, ensuring a streamlined, secure, and innovative payment framework,” the announcement explained.
Currently a list of cryptocurrency that will be accepted are not available, although the government has said that the use of “stable cryptocurrencies” is key.
The introduction of the new digital payment option will be operational once technical arrangements for the initiative is finalised.
Dubai’s Vision:
At the Summit, Dubai;s director of digital payment system regulation, Amna Mohammed Lootah expressed that the vision is to ensure 90% of financial transactions across the public and private sectors are powered through cashless methods by 2026.
“We are confident that this milestone will significantly accelerate the advancement of the Dubai Cashless Strategy,” she said.
Thus, this initiative is part of Dubai’s broader ambition to become a global hub for digital finance and innovation, aligning with the Dubai Economic Agenda D3.
Why This Matters:
The fruitfulness of Anziani’s visit marked by this announcement means that Crypto.com can now hold serious stakes in supporting Dubai’s transition into a “fully digital cashless society.”
The current digital payments feature not only mainstreams government adoption and legitimizes crypto but it also strengthens the Cronos ecosystem by diversifying risks and looking beyond a US-focused strategy.
Nevertheless, while appreciating the integration, several community members highlighted the need for translating such achievements into direct benefit for Cronos:
