UAE’s IHC completes $30M deal with dirham backed stablecoin

International Holding Company (IHC) is the most valuable holding company in the Middle East and one of the world’s largest investment firms, with a market capitalization of over USD 233 billion. Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and primarily owned by the Royal Group, the private family office of Abu Dhabi’s ruling dynasty, has carried out a $30 million transaction using UAE Central Bank regulated DDSC built on the ADI Chain, Layer 2 blockchain developed by UAE based ADI Foundation.

As per the announcement, the transaction represents a defining milestone for the DDSC stablecoin ecosystem, demonstrating operational readiness, scalability, and real-world applicability at institutional volume.

DDSC was launched to be utilized by institutions and governmental entities for payments and collections, settlements, treasury operations, trade and supply chain flows, as well as programmable financial services for regulated entities.

FAB clients will use DDSC stablecoin

DDSC is a UAE dirham-backed stablecoin launched following the strategic collaboration between IHC, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), and Sirius International Holding, and supported by ADI Foundation’s blockchain infrastructure.

The initiative was established to support secure, compliant, and efficient digital transactions for institutions, businesses, and individuals, while enabling seamless value transfer and settlement across global markets.

The $30 million transaction using DDSC is a validation that the infrastructure is sound and is now ready to move to live deployment. The DDSC AED stablecoin will now be used by clients of FAB, for cross border payments, treasury operations and trade settlements.

The UAE is utilizing AED stablecoins for more efficient, transparent, payment rails ensuring quicker and more transparent cross border payments.

Syed Basar Shueb, CEO of IHC, noted that the transaction is a demonstration of UAE’s live digital infrastructure and can support real institutional financial activity.

He added, “As one of the founding participants in the DDSC ecosystem, IHC is committed to advancing solutions that improve how capital moves across markets. Executing 110 million ($30 million) DDSC on ADI Chain is a clear signal that we are entering the next phase, where institutional-grade digital assets are not only viable, but operational at scale.”

The next phase will add more institutions and development of cross boder payment and trade corridors connecting Middle East with key global markets.

The DDSC AED stablecoin is not the only stablecoin that has been approved so far by the Central Bank of UAE. The first AED stablecoin to be approved was the AE Coin by Al Maryah Community Bank, better known as Mbank, while Zand Bank has also received a license for AEDZ is the UAE’s first regulated multi-chain AED-backed stablecoin on public blockchains.

The UAE Central Bank also approved a USD backed stablecoin USDU, to be used as a foreign payment token, and an FSRA regulated fiat reference token. The fully USD backed stablecoin USDU, the registered foreign payment token, can be used for domestic payment for digital assets and digital assets derivatives.

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