TLDR
Abu Dhabis regulator has approved a shortlist of stablecoins for regulated use inside the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), led by USDT and USDC.
- Tethers USDT was recognized as an Accepted Fiat?Referenced Token across nine additional chains in ADGM, expanding earlier approvals on Ethereum, Solana, and Avalanche per a media report.
- ADGMs approved AFRT list includes USDC (Circle), USDP (Paxos), RLUSD (Ripple), USD1 (World Liberty Financial), and USDL (Paxos International), in addition to USDT, per a news summary.
- Circle also received an ADGM Financial Services Permission to offer regulated USDC payments and custody, per a trade press update.
Deep Dive
1. USDT Multi-Chain Recognition
ADGM formally recognized USDT as an Accepted Fiat?Referenced Token (AFRT) across Aptos, Celo, Cosmos, Kaia, Near, Polkadot, Tezos, TON, and TRON, expanding prior approvals on Ethereum, Solana, and Avalanche. This lets ADGM?licensed firms use USDT for regulated activities on more networks under FSRA oversight per a media report.
Institutions in ADGM can adopt USDT across more chains, improving settlement flexibility while staying within a supervised regime.
2. Full List Of AFRTs
Beyond USDT, ADGMs AFRT roster includes USDC (Circle), USDP (Paxos), RLUSD (Ripple), USD1 (World Liberty Financial), and USDL (Paxos International). These are the stablecoins permitted for regulated activities in ADGM, according to a news summary. Coverage of USDC and USDT approvals also appears in broader reporting on the FSRAs list of approved tokens in Abu Dhabi per a market article.
ADGM is curating a defined set of fiat?referenced tokens for licensed use, which can streamline compliance and reduce ambiguity for corporate adoption.
3. USDC Permissions Context
Separate from token recognition, Circle obtained a Financial Services Permission (FSP) from ADGMs FSRA to operate as a Money Services Provider and offer regulated USDC payment, settlement, and custody services in Abu Dhabi per a trade press update. This complements USDCs AFRT status by enabling Circle to deliver institutional?grade services within the jurisdiction.
Firms that need a licensed payment and custody partner for USDC have a regulated path, which can accelerate on?chain treasury and cross?border settlement use cases.
Conclusion
ADGMs approvals formalize a small set of stablecoins for regulated activity, with USDT gaining multi?chain recognition and USDC supported by Circles service permissions. For institutions, this reduces regulatory friction and widens the operational rails for compliant stablecoin payments and settlement within Abu Dhabis framework.
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