News Roundup — UAE stablecoin issuer gets nod from central bank

Major news stories this week;

1. UAE stablecoin issuer gets nod from central bank
2. Stripe Inks $1.1B Deal To Buy Stablecoin Platform Bridge
3. EU markets watchdog urges amendments to MiCA crypto regulations
4. SEC approves NYSE, CBOE listings of Bitcoin options ETFs
5. MiCA: Winners and losers of new EU crypto laws as deadline looms

Story Summaries;

1. The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) has granted in-principle approval to AED Stablecoin under its Payment Token Service Regulation framework, the company said in a press release. AED Stablecoin’s preliminary license approval makes it a frontrunner in the race to become the first issuer of a regulated dirham-pegged stablecoin in the UAE. If fully approved, AED Stablecoin’s AE Coin could serve as a local trading pair for cryptocurrencies in exchanges and decentralized platforms, while allowing merchants to accept it for goods and services. Issuers are required to back their stablecoins with cash in a separate escrow fully denominated in dirhams within a UAE bank. Alternatively, they may hold at least 50% of reserve assets as cash, with the remaining portion invested in UAE government bonds and CBUAE Monetary Bills with an average duration of up to six months.
2. Payments giant Stripe has acquired the stablecoin platform Bridge, with Stripe CEO Patrick Collison confirming the deal in a tweet Monday. The confirmation follows initial reports last week about a potential deal, which TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington said on Sunday had been completed. The deal was reportedly valued at $1.1 billion, but Stripe and Collison have yet to confirm terms of the deal. According to a post from Bridge, the deal is still subject to regulatory approval and is expected to "close in the coming months." The purchase would also be the largest acquisition ever for Stripe, which is no stranger to acquisitions and was valued at $70 billion in July 2024. Bridge doesn't issue stablecoins, but provides a software platform that allows businesses to accept them as payments, and has said that it one day hopes to rival global payments networks such as Swift, Mastercard, and Visa.
3. The ESMA recommended that the commission consider amending MiCA to require applicants for crypto asset service providers (CASPs) to provide the results of an external cybersecurity audit. The regulator elaborated that required information should include an “assessment of the good repute of the members of the management body.” The regulator also seeks information on CASPs, including checks regarding the absence of penalties in areas other than commercial law, insolvency law, financial services law, Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing, fraud or professional liability.
4. On Oct. 18, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved applications from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) to list the long-anticipated options for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Options trading will now be available for the 11 approved ETF providers on the NYSE, including Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund, ARK21Shares Bitcoin ETF, Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF, Franklin Bitcoin ETF, VanEck Bitcoin Trust, WisdomTree’s Bitcoin Fund, Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust, Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust, Bitwise Bitcoin ETF, BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, and the Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund.
5. MiCA will finally give crypto firms in Europe clear rules of the road to follow — but it could potentially threaten the dominance of the world’s biggest stablecoin issuer. December 30 is shaping up to be a big day in the crypto calendar. That’s when the EU’s long-awaited Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, otherwise known as MiCA for short, will come into force. Markezic says applications surrounding the tokenization of real-world assets are a particular hot-button topic in the EU right now — and this up-and-coming technology, when coupled with stablecoins, amount to the most compelling use cases for crypto across the region. Of course though, the likes of Tether and Circle could soon have competition in the form of an EU-wide central bank digital currency. Brussels is still weighing up whether to launch one, and as in other jurisdictions, concerns have been raised that such a CBDC could impinge on the privacy of consumers and be used as an instrument for surveillance.

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

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