How UAE Banks Go Live on Stablecoins | Fireblocks x MFTA
Stablecoins moved $33 trillion globally last year, and the UAE is right at the center. Fireblocks' John Hallahan on how banks get from pilot to production.
John Hallahan, Head of Business Solutions & Advisory at Fireblocks, joins Raghda Ibraheem to unpack the UAE Stablecoin Payments Playbook from MFTA and Fireblocks, a practical roadmap for banks and payment companies moving from proof of concept to large-scale production.
His diagnosis of why banks stall is direct: the technology is rarely the blocker anymore. What stops production is risk and compliance teams brought in too late, no clear business owner to carry the project out of the innovation lab and into a P&L, and weak liquidity partnerships. Solve those three and production becomes achievable.
On use cases, cross-border B2B settlement is the clear frontrunner. The UAE is a global trade hub, and businesses feel the friction of legacy rails every day. Treasury management runs a close second. On the question of five regulators, John pushes back on the idea that more oversight means more friction. He would rather have five regulators with clear rules than one regulator with no rules.
His 12-month outlook: fewer pilots, more production. More dirham-denominated stablecoins in market. New corridors opening into Africa and Southeast Asia.
Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:22 Why MFTA and Fireblocks built the playbook
1:25 What's really holding banks back from going live
2:51 Which use cases are gaining traction: B2B, treasury, remittances
4:16 How banks' approach to digital assets changed over a decade
5:44 Five UAE regulators: complexity or clarity?
7:07 Dirham vs dollar stablecoins: which to use and when
8:54 The 12-month outlook for UAE stablecoin payments
Download the UAE Stablecoin Payments Playbook: https://mena-fintechnexus.org/mena-fintech-association-and-fireblocks-launch-uae-stablecoin-payments-playbook-to-guide-institutional-adoption-of-digital-payments/
Fireblocks for banks: https://www.fireblocks.com/industry/banks
Banking and tokenization resources: https://www.fireblocks.com/resource-hub/banking-tokenization
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#Stablecoins #UAE #DigitalAssets #CrossBorderPayments #Fireblocks
Originally posted on FINTECH.TV: https://terminal.fintech.tv/fintechtv-library
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The blocker to production is rarely technology. It comes down to governance: bringing risk and compliance in early, naming a business owner who can carry the project into a P&L, and securing strong liquidity partners.
Cross-border B2B settlement leads the UAE use cases, with treasury management close behind. Remittances hold the largest long-term retail potential but carry heavier licensing requirements.
The UAE's five regulators signal clarity, not complexity. Wherever a firm is based, it knows exactly who its regulator is and which activities are covered.
Dollar and dirham stablecoins are not an either/or. Dollars dominate cross-border flows today, dirham-backed stablecoins are emerging as a domestic settlement layer, and the digital dirham is on the horizon.
The next 12 months bring fewer pilots and more production, more dirham-denominated stablecoins in market, and new cross-border corridors into Africa and Southeast Asia.