Zand AED: A New Regulated AED-Backed Stablecoin Enters the UAE Market

The UAE’s digital asset ecosystem continues to evolve as Zand, the country’s AI-powered digital bank, secures approval from the Central Bank of the UAE to launch Zand AED, a regulated AED-backed stablecoin deployed on public blockchains. This development places Zand at the center of the UAE’s regulated digital finance environment, while adding a new tool for institutions, fintechs, and developers building on blockchain.

Zand AED enters the market at a time when the bank has already established itself as a leading institution in the country’s digital asset landscape. Over the past two years, Zand has assembled a complete, regulated infrastructure to support digital assets. The bank obtained a VARA license for the provision of virtual asset custody services, making it one of the few UAE banks operating under Dubai’s dedicated virtual asset regulatory regime. This positioned Zand to offer institutional-grade safekeeping of digital assets within a fully compliant framework.

Zand also strengthened its institutional capability through a partnership with Taurus, the Swiss digital asset infrastructure provider. This integration gives Zand access to advanced tokenization, storage, and blockchain connectivity systems, enabling the bank to support asset managers, corporates, and financial institutions with enterprise-level digital asset solutions.

At the same time, Zand has become one of the most active banking partners for VASPs licensed under VARA and ADGM, supporting client bank accounts and enabling digital asset businesses to operate with reliable, compliant banking access. In a market where many banks remain cautious, Zand has distinguished itself as a forward-leaning institution willing to engage with the digital asset economy under strict regulatory oversight.

With this groundwork in place, Zand AED emerges as a natural progression of Zand’s broader strategy. Fully backed one-to-one by AED reserves held in segregated and regulated accounts, the stablecoin is issued by Zand Trust, a wholly owned subsidiary of Zand Bank PJSC, licensed and supervised by the Central Bank and rated BBB+ by Fitch. It is built to operate across multiple public blockchains, offering real-time transparency through independently audited smart contracts and ongoing reserve attestations.

“Launching an AED-backed stablecoin on public blockchains is not simply a milestone for Zand. It is a breakthrough for the UAE,” said Mohamed Alabbar, Chairman of Zand. “This initiative carries our national currency into the digital future and reinforces the UAE’s position as a global leader in financial innovation.”

By deploying Zand AED on public blockchains rather than closed or permissioned systems, Zand enables regulated AED-backed value to integrate directly into global digital infrastructure. Developers, fintech platforms, enterprises, and financial institutions can now incorporate a supervised AED-backed digital asset into settlement flows, tokenization pipelines, on-chain payments, and cross-border experiments.

Michael Chan, CEO of Zand, described the role of the stablecoin in the UAE’s financial transformation. “Zand AED is more than a stablecoin. It is the UAE’s bridge between traditional finance and decentralized finance. It unlocks the next generation of payments, tokenization, and digital asset innovation. All of it is built on trust, transparency, and regulatory clarity.”

With global stablecoin markets anticipated to expand dramatically, Zand AED enhances the UAE’s ability to explore regulated digital settlement, programmable money flows, enterprise tokenization, and cross-border value movement within a clearly supervised environment. It also reflects the UAE’s approach to shaping a compliant and innovation-friendly digital asset market supported by both VARA and the Central Bank.