News Roundup — UAE Central Bank approves plan for stablecoin registration framework

Major news stories this week;

1. UAE Central Bank approves plan for stablecoin registration framework
2. Australia’s main stock exchange to get second spot Bitcoin ETF
3. Tezos Foundation Teams Up With Baanx for Non-Custodial Crypto Card
4. OKX Picks Malta Over France as Europe Hub to Comply With EU's MiCA Crypto Rules
5. PayPal's PYUSD stablecoin surpasses $500 million market cap following Solana expansion

Story Summaries;

1. The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates has paved the way for the country to have a regulatory framework for stablecoin issuance. In a meeting in Abu Dhabi held on June 3, the Board of the UAE Central Bank approved the issuance of regulations for licensing and overseeing stablecoin arrangements. Under the proposed framework, the UAE Central Bank will have oversight of UAE dirham-backed stablecoin arrangements. While specific provisions of the planned regulatory framework still remain to be fully developed and published, the decision to proceed could prove another critical factor in establishing the UAE’s reputation as a hub for cryptoasset innovation. Introducing a regulatory framework for regulating UAE-backed stablecoins is one of a number of initiatives the UAE is pursuing under its Financial Infrastructure Transformation Programme, which is designed to promote innovation and digitisation of the UAE’s economy.
2. Blockchain-focused asset manager DigitalX has received regulatory approval to launch its spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), which will become the second Bitcoin ETF to trade on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). The DigitalX Bitcoin ETF will be listed under the ticker BTXX on July 12 at 10 am local time, the firm revealed in a July 8 X post. The approval to list BTXX was described as a “watershed moment” by its CEO, Lisa Wade. “The DigitalX Bitcoin ETF is a spot ETF product that provides ASX customers with direct access to Bitcoin via a regulated and liquid fund structure,” she said. “It is exciting to see the growth and development of the digital assets markets reflected in this approval” in Australia, added DigitalX’s chair Toby Hicks.
3. Tezos, the smart-contract blockchain founded by the husband-wife team of Arthur and Kathleen Breitman in 2017, will have its name on a new crypto payments debit card, created in association with Baanx, the digital assets card facilitator and partner of Mastercard.Transactions involving the Tezos-branded, non-custodial crypto card will take place on Etherlink, an Ethereum-compatible layer-2 blockchain powered by Tezos Smart Rollups technology, to allow fast, cheap payments. The Tezos Foundation-backed debit card will be accepted by over 110 million global merchants compatible with Mastercard. Crypto cards linked to non-custodial wallets – which allow customers to keep hold of their crypto until needed – are becoming popular. Matercard and Baanx are reportedly rolling out a MetaMask debit card, and DeFi firm 1Inch has one in operation. Baanx's relationship with Tezos is over four years old, and the Tezos Foundation has been included in previous Baanx funding rounds.
4. OKX, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, plans to make the Mediterranean island of Malta its European hub and base for compliance with the newly arrived Markets in Crypto assets (MiCA) regulatory framework, according to two people familiar with the matter. It's a change of tack for OKX, which said in May of last year that France would be its preferred European Union hub. OKX's France arm has been registered with France's financial regulator Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) since December. "Compliance in Malta is way more lenient, and that's not the tag you want to have when you're in crypto and trying to make it in the EU," said a person with direct knowledge of OKX's European regulatory efforts. Companies have been looking to get registered with one of the European Union's 27 nations to get ready for upcoming MiCA rules, which require firms to secure a crypto asset service provider, or CASP, license with an EU nation to operate across the entire bloc.
5. PayPal’s U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin, launched in August 2023 through a partnership with custodian firm Paxos — has seen its market supply exceed half a billion tokens. Following its rollout, PYUSD’s supply reached 230 million by the end of 2023. Since then, the total supply of stablecoins has more than doubled, surpassing the 500 million mark (or $500 million) this month, according to DeFiLlama data. Notably, in the past month, the stablecoin's supply increased by 97% — rising from 270 million on June 26 to now over 533 million. This places PayPal among the top ten stablecoin issuers, with Tether USD leading the niche with a supply of over 112 billion. The surge in PYUSD’s growth has followed its expansion to the Solana network in May. A few months later, Solana hosts about 134.5 million PYUSD tokens, equal to 25.2% of the overall supply. Meanwhile, there are nearly 399 million PYUSD stablecoins on Ethereum, according to The Block’s price page.

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And that’s all for last week’s news! Wishing you a great week ahead!

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