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Tether USDt (USDT), the largest stablecoin by circulation, has gained a new regulatory label in Abu Dhabi that strengthens its role in regulated digital-asset services. The Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) now classifies USDT as an “accepted fiat-referenced token”, a status that permits licensed firms to offer trading, custody and related products involving the dollar-pegged asset under direct supervision.
ADGM operates as an international financial center and free zone with its own rulebook for digital assets. Banks, custodians, exchanges and fintech firms use that framework to design products aimed at institutional clients. With the new label for USDT, regulated entities inside ADGM can plug the stablecoin into payment rails, over-the-counter desks and wallet services while staying within a defined licensing perimeter.
Before the latest decision, ADGM had already treated USDT as an accepted virtual asset across its issuance on Ethereum, Solana and Avalanche. The new category takes the token one step closer to the regulatory treatment applied to other fiat-linked payment instruments. As a result, USDT becomes easier to use for remittances, cross-border settlement and liquidity management between institutions that operate from Abu Dhabi.
Tether chief executive Paolo Ardoino welcomed the move and underlined the role of stablecoins in day-to-day finance. He pointed to growing use of USDT in money transfers, over-the-counter crypto trading and on-exchange liquidity. A clear label in ADGM helps institutions that handle client funds or manage treasury operations integrate USDT without guessing how regulators will treat that exposure.
REGULATORS IN ABU DHABI ARE ALSO WORKING WITH OTHER ISSUERS
Authorities recently approved Ripple’s dollar-pegged RLUSD as an accepted fiat-referenced token, which opens a similar path for banks and fintech firms that prefer a different brand of stablecoin. Large corporate treasuries and payment providers in the region now have more than one regulated dollar token to choose from when they design cross-border products.

Alongside imported dollar tokens, a local project seeks to create a digital version of the national currency. A consortium formed by ADQ — the emirate’s sovereign wealth fund — International Holding Company and First Abu Dhabi Bank has announced plans for a dirham-pegged stablecoin, still subject to approval from the UAE Central Bank. The planned token would give regional institutions a tool for on-chain payments and settlement that tracks the dirham rather than the dollar.

Abu Dhabi and the wider UAE have turned into a key venue for digital-asset firms that want clear rules and access to global capital. ADGM sits at the center of that push, issuing licenses for exchanges, custodians, brokers and asset managers that handle cryptoassets. For companies that work with stablecoins, the regime in Abu Dhabi now offers labeled categories such as virtual asset and fiat-referenced token, along with requirements on reserves, disclosures and governance.