The UAE’s newly enacted central bank law formally incorporates digital assets and decentralized finance (DeFi) into the country’s traditional banking framework, underscoring its ambition to become a leading global hub for financial innovation.
The law—introduced in September and released publicly this week—requires all crypto, blockchain, and digital asset firms operating in or from the UAE to obtain licensing from the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE). Unlicensed activity could incur penalties of up to 1 billion dinars ($272 million).
Federal Decree Law No. 6 of 2025 replaces the existing CBUAE regulatory structure and brings a wide scope of digital asset activities under the central bank’s jurisdiction. This includes virtual assets, DeFi protocols, stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets, decentralized exchanges, digital wallets, blockchain bridges, and related infrastructure.
A key aim of the legislation is to promote innovation while ensuring robust oversight. The law provides for 60-day licensing decisions, risk-based capital requirements, and a one-year grace period—until September 2026—for existing operators to comply.
New licensing categories have also been introduced, covering virtual asset payments, open finance platforms, and digital wallets. The framework enhances consumer protection through stronger anti-fraud measures and establishes a fast-track dispute resolution process for cases up to AED 100,000. It also strengthens Shari’ah governance, creating an enabling environment for Islamic DeFi solutions and tokenized Sukuk—Islamic bonds issued on blockchain networks. Global Sukuk issuance reached $65.6 billion last year and is expected to surge to $2.5 trillion by 2029.
At a time when Europe’s MiCA framework is still being phased in, the UAE has rolled out one of the most comprehensive national regulatory regimes in the world—one that treats digital assets as an integral part of the broader financial system.
