Circle has secured a Financial Services Permission (FSP) license from Abu Dhabi Global Market’s (ADGM) Financial Services Regulatory Authority.
The license pushes regulated stablecoin infrastructure deeper into the Gulf’s increasingly assertive digital-asset hub. It also gives Circle a formal gateway to scale USDC and related services under a ruleset that treats stablecoins less like a curiosity and more like core financial plumbing.
ADGM Gaines Access to Stablecoins
With the FSP in hand, Circle can operate as a regulated financial institution inside ADGM. It enables issuing and redeeming stablecoins, managing client funds, and providing related payment and treasury infrastructure for institutions.
The license places Circle under ADGM’s prudential, conduct, and AML framework. This creates obligations on capital, governance, audits, and reserve transparency that mirror expectations for traditional financial firms.
Regulators in Abu Dhabi frame the move as part of a wider strategy. The strategy aims to anchor real‑world payment rails and tokenized finance within a single, supervised free zone.
For Circle, the permission creates a clean legal base to support USDC‑denominated flows for regional banks, fintechs, and corporates that want on‑chain settlement without stepping outside a regulated perimeter. It also aligns Abu Dhabi with other jurisdictions that treat fiat‑backed stablecoins as a distinct category.
Regional Stakes for Stablecoins and Banks
The license lands at a moment when Gulf financial centers compete to host the next layer of digital market infrastructure. The infrastructure includes tokenized treasuries to cross‑border payment corridors. A fully regulated USDC issuer in ADGM gives local banks and payment firms a compliant counterparty for on‑ and off‑ramping between bank money and tokenized dollars. This reduces reliance on offshore venues and unregulated issuers.
For regional institutions already experimenting with permissioned chains and wholesale CBDC pilots, Circle’s presence in Abu Dhabi creates an option to plug stablecoins into those experiments without blowing up their risk committees. Treasurers and fintechs gain a clearer path to use USDC for remittances, settlement, and liquidity management. Additionally, they can keep comfort that the issuer sits under a familiar regulatory regime rather than in a legal grey zone.
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