Abu Dhabi has added Tether’s stablecoin USDT to the list of registered stablecoins in the country. According to reports, USDT will be officially recognized as an “Accepted Virtual Asset” (AVA) by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) within the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the UAE’s international financial center in Abu Dhabi.
The move positions USDT alongside other approved stablecoins, such as World Liberty Fi’s USD1, Circle’s USDC, and Ripple’s RLUSD on ADGM’s stablecoin register, which aligns with Abu Dhabi’s push to become a global hub for regulated digital assets.
USDT earns approval from Abu Dhabi regulator
The approval means that the ADGM now sees USDT as an Accepted Fiat-Referenced Token. This designation enables regulated firms within the financial zone to utilize the asset in supervised activities, ranging from settlement to asset servicing. The most important thing about this development is the fact that USDT can now be used inside several networks within the ADGM.
Tether’s chief executive, Paolo Ardoino, believes that the approval is a recognition of USDT within international settlement markets and as a gateway for financial inclusion, sentiments known to align closely with Abu Dhabi’s current positioning. From Tether’s perspective, the approval is a great win as the UAEIMF praises the UAE on its anticipated digital Dirham upgrade enhances network interoperability.
The development also allows USDT to move between decentralized applications and institutional systems without the usual fragmentation issues. On the other hand, Abu Dhabi continues to show that it is focused on hosting infrastructure, not speculation, as it presents itself as a destination for credible crypto finance and a potential bridge between global capital and blockchain-based settlement rails.
As reported by Cryptopolitan earlier today, Mohammed Al Shamsi, a senior official at the UAE’s National Security Agency, declared that “Bitcoin has become the key pillar in the future of financing,” referencing the Emirates’ commitment to the crypto space. Meanwhile, USDT’s approval comes weeks after Ripple’s dollar-backed stablecoin, RLUSD, was cleared for use inside the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM).
This allowance came after it was formally recognized as an Accepted Fiat-Referenced Token, which helped it establish a regulatory foothold in one of the world’s most tightly regulated crypto hubs. According to Ripple, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) designation means that firms licensed by the authority can now use RLUSD for regulated activities. The approval puts the stablecoin on the same level as a small group of tokens permitted inside the ADGM’s ring-fenced financial system.
