UAE Transitions From Blockchain Pilots to National Execution, Blockchain Center Abu Dhabi and Binance Report Shows

The Blockchain Center Abu Dhabi has released a major new report detailing how the United Arab Emirates has quietly moved from blockchain experimentation to large-scale, regulated implementation across its financial system, government services, and economic infrastructure.

Developed in collaboration with Binance, the report argues that blockchain in the UAE has evolved from an idea into a structural pillar of national development, one supported by regulatory clarity, institutional adoption, and substantial public and private capital.

The research outlines a national environment in which blockchain is no longer confined to pilot projects or sandbox tests. Instead, the UAE has entered a phase of execution that is visible in live, regulated systems already operating at scale. Among them is a national digital identity platform that now serves 11 million users through UAE Pass, which has logged more than 2.5 billion authentications.

The report also notes that the DFSA and FSRA have already approved several stablecoins. At the same time, the Central Bank’s digital currency pilot has completed its first transactions, taking real steps towards an integrated digital payments future. Tokenization efforts are also advancing, with initiatives aimed at converting as much as USD 4 billion worth of real estate assets into on-chain representations.

These developments unfold against the backdrop of an already massive payments and remittance economy.

In the first ten months of 2025 alone, domestic payment systems processed more than AED 20 trillion in transfers. The UAE remains one of the world’s largest sources of outbound remittances, with 95 percent of residents sending money abroad at least once a year, and more than 71 percent of e-commerce transactions completed via cards or mobile wallets. Cross-border flows supported by the UAE economy exceed USD 40 billion annually, offering fertile ground for new digital settlement mechanisms.

The report also describes a shift in the broader blockchain ecosystem. What was once a startup-heavy space has evolved into an institutional landscape defined by regulated exchanges, custodians, payment and settlement providers, tokenization platforms, infrastructure companies, global banks, and multinational technology firms. This progression, the report notes, reflects a deeper structural realignment rather than a speculative wave.

Abdulla Al Dhaheri, CEO of the Blockchain Center Abu Dhabi, emphasized the importance of this transition, saying, “The UAE has created an environment where regulators, financial institutions, and technology providers can work together to deploy blockchain in a controlled and meaningful way. The result is an ecosystem focused on real use cases, regulatory clarity, and long-term financial infrastructure. This report captures that transition from experimentation to supervised deployment, and shows how global platforms such as Binance are increasingly participating within locally regulated market structures rather than operating on the periphery.”

A central argument of the report is that blockchain is becoming national economic infrastructure in the UAE, comparable to the transformative role telecommunications and railways once played. This is especially evident in projects involving real-world asset tokenization, AED-backed digital deposits, blockchain-based wholesale settlement systems, trade and logistics platforms, and government service rails. Another source of strength is the UAE’s sovereign and quasi-sovereign wealth, managing more than USD 2.5 trillion globally, which is positioned to support and scale compliant blockchain initiatives across sectors.

Binance’s inclusion as a co-author illustrates the company’s deepening integration into the UAE’s regulatory and institutional frameworks. As an FSRA-regulated entity under ADGM, Binance is now part of the country’s formally supervised digital asset infrastructure.

In 2025, MGX’s USD 2 billion investment into Binance, executed through regulated stablecoin channels, further highlighted the UAE’s ambition to build a robust digital financial system capable of supporting global-scale platforms.

Tarik Erk, Regional Head for MENAT and Senior Executive Officer for Abu Dhabi at Binance, reflected on this shift, noting, “What distinguishes the UAE is not just innovation, but execution within a regulated, institutional-grade framework. This research reflects how blockchain is now being deployed across payments, tokenization, custody, and market infrastructure as part of the country’s core economic systems. Binance’s participation in this initiative reflects our long-term commitment to operating within these structures and supporting the UAE’s vision for secure, scalable, and compliant blockchain infrastructure that serves real economic use cases.”

Taken together, the findings of the report position the UAE as a global benchmark for institutional blockchain deployment. Rather than treating blockchain as a speculative frontier, the Emirates have embedded it into the fabric of their financial and administrative apparatus, allowing it to function as production-grade infrastructure.

This coordinated effort, uniting regulators, financial institutions, global technology providers, and sovereign capital, shows how deliberate policy design can transform blockchain from a growth slogan into a working system. And in a global landscape where many countries still debate the role of digital assets, the UAE has already begun to demonstrate what happens when a nation chooses to execute instead of experiment.