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AE Coin Launch Imminent After Gaining CBUAE Approval
Pegged to the UAE Dirham, the UAE’s first stablecoin is set to revolutionize digital payments while offering secure, efficient transactions.
AE Coin, the UAE’s first stablecoin, has officially received a license and go-ahead to launch from the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE). The news signals a major step in the region’s digital transformation and the UAE government’s vision for financial innovation.
Developed under the CBUAE’s digital payment token framework, AE Coin aims to reshape financial services with the promise of faster, secure and more cost-efficient transactions. The stablecoin is designed to merge traditional fiat currencies with the efficiency of blockchain, with each AE Coin pegged 1:1 with the UAE Dirham, ensuring stability and trust. Its goal goes beyond streamlining financial transactions to creating an inclusive financial ecosystem for both individuals and businesses.
With blockchain as its backbone, AE Coin offers transparency and efficiency without compromising reliability. Its potential spans various industries, from e-commerce to remittances and decentralized finance (DeFi). By empowering financial inclusion and fostering innovation, the coin’s creators hope it will become a key part of the UAE’s push for a future-ready digital economy.
Ramez Rafeek, General Manager of AE Coin, highlighted the transformative power of the project:
“AE Coin harnesses the speed and efficiency of blockchain technology […] simplifying transfers, making them faster and more seamless. In a rapidly evolving digital world, AE Coin sets a new standard for trust, security, and innovation in digital currency”.
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AE Coin’s ongoing strategy includes forging partnerships with financial institutions, payment gateways, and tech firms to drive adoption rates. Future initiatives also aim to integrate AE Coin with decentralized applications, secure listings on prominent cryptocurrency exchanges, and continually enhance its cutting-edge technology.
News
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.
Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.
The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc
— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026
“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.
Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.
Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget
The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.
Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
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