Emirates NBD's Liv Adds USDU, a Central Bank-Registered Dollar Stablecoin

The companies describe USDU as the UAE's first US dollar-backed stablecoin to be registered with the central bank. Registration falls under the central bank's Payment Token Services Regulation. Adding the token to Liv lets customers of one of the country's largest banking groups hold a regulated dollar token in the same app they use for everyday banking. Until now, that kind of access has been offered mostly by crypto exchanges.

Universal issues USDU. Aquanow is the regulated digital asset infrastructure partner for both USDU distribution and Liv X, the crypto trading service Liv launched in 2025. The companies said USDU is backed one-to-one by US dollar reserves held with UAE banks, and that monthly attestations of those reserves are published. Aquanow says it has processed more than $130 billion in trading volume.

Rohit Garg, Emirates NBD's group head of retail products and chief digital officer for retail banking and wealth management, said the partnership gives customers "a secure, transparent and regulated bridge to digital assets." Phil Sham, Aquanow's chief executive, said: "Aquanow's role is to make regulated digital asset access work at bank-grade standards." Juha Viitala, senior executive officer at Universal, said USDU was designed to bring transparent, dollar-backed settlement within UAE regulatory frameworks.

USDU launched earlier this year as the central bank expanded its framework for payment tokens. Under that framework, dirham-denominated tokens are the main instrument for paying for goods and services onshore, and foreign-currency tokens such as USDU are aimed at settlement and digital-asset use.

To mark the launch, Liv is offering zero-fee crypto trading for 90 days as part of a three-month campaign. The bank has not said what fees will apply once the promotion ends.