The UAE's Digital Dirham (CBDC) completed its first government-level transaction in less than two minutes.

The UAE Ministry of Finance and the Dubai Treasury announced the completion of the first transaction in the pilot phase of the Digital Dirham central bank digital currency (CBDC), marking the first major milestone since the project's launch in March. The transaction, executed through the government payment platform mBridge, signifies a crucial step forward for the UAE in applying its national digital currency to government and private sector operations. Ahmed Ali Meftah, Executive Director of Central Accountancy at the Dubai Treasury, stated that the transaction, designed to test the technical integration and operational readiness of the central bank system, took less than two minutes, validating the Digital Dirham's potential to improve settlement efficiency and shorten intergovernmental payment cycles. According to a policy document released by the UAE Central Bank in July, the issuance of the Digital Dirham will be phased in, initially for payment purposes only, to avoid competition with savings or interest-bearing products. The project is considered a key initiative by the UAE Central Bank to address the evolution of the monetary system in the digital economy era. According to the Atlantic Council, currently only Nigeria, the Bahamas, and Jamaica have officially issued CBDCs, while 49 other countries are in the pilot phase. (Cointelegraph)