UAE's "Digital Dirham" CBDC completes its first government-level transaction, with testing taking less than two minutes

ChainCatcher News, the UAE Ministry of Finance and the Dubai Department of Finance have announced the completion of the first transaction in the Digital Dirham central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot phase, marking the first major milestone since the project was launched.

This transaction was executed through the government payment platform mBridge, signifying a key step for the UAE in applying the national digital currency to both government and private sector operations. Ahmed Ali Meftah, Executive Director of Central Accounting at the Dubai Department of Finance, stated that this transaction aimed to test the technical integration and operational readiness of the central bank system. The entire process took less than two minutes, demonstrating the potential of the Digital Dirham to improve settlement efficiency and shorten intergovernmental payment cycles.

According to a policy document released by the UAE Central Bank in July, the issuance of the Digital Dirham will be carried out in phases, initially limited to payment purposes to avoid competition with savings or interest-bearing products. The project is regarded as an important initiative by the UAE Central Bank to address the evolution of the monetary system in the digital economy era.

According to statistics from the Atlantic Council, currently only Nigeria, the Bahamas, and Jamaica have officially issued CBDCs, while another 49 countries are in the pilot phase.