UAE makes history with first government transaction using digital dirham

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• The UAE made its first government payment in digital dirhams during testing of the national digital currency project.
• The transaction was conducted on the mBridge platform and took less than two minutes.
• The full launch of the digital dirham is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2025.

The United Arab Emirates has announced the first transaction using the digital dirham, a key milestone in the digital modernization of the country’s economy. The transfer was carried out with the participation of the Ministry of Finance, Dubai Finance (DOF), and the UAE Central Bank as part of the test phase of the government digital currency.

The project is being implemented as part of the Financial Infrastructure Transformation (FIT) program, which aims to develop digital payment systems, increase the transparency of financial flows, and strengthen the country’s role as a technological and financial hub in the region.

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First transaction in digital dirham

According to the authorities, the payment was made via the mBridge platform. The procedure took less than two minutes and confirmed the readiness of the technological ecosystem, as well as the system’s ability to conduct interdepartmental payments at the digital level.

“Using the Digital Dirham in government transactions reflects the Ministry of Finance’s commitment to accelerating digital transformation in public finance management and enhancing transparency and efficiency in government financial systems,” said UAE Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Источник: X.com

What’s next

In its July report, the UAE Central Bank announced that the digital currency project will be implemented in stages. In the initial phase, functionality will be limited to payment transactions to test the system without overlapping with other banking products.

It is expected that by the end of 2025, the digital dirham will begin to be used for settlements in the public and corporate sectors.

According to the Atlantic Council, fully functional central bank digital currencies are currently only in operation in Nigeria, the Bahamas, and Jamaica. Another 49 countries, including the EU, the UK, and Singapore, are in the testing phase.

In September 2025, the UAE joined the global Crypto Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) developed by the OECD. According to the signed agreement, the new reporting standards will come into force in 2027, and the first automatic exchange of data between countries is scheduled for 2028.