Overview
- Dubai Duty Free launched Crypto.com Pay across Dubai International (DXB), Al Maktoum International (AMIA) and its online store, moving from a 2025 memorandum of understanding into a live roll‑out announced on Wednesday, August 5, 2026.
- At checkout the point‑of‑sale or website generates a unique Crypto.com QR code that shoppers scan with the Crypto.com app to authorise payment, and mobile users are redirected into the app to approve transactions.
- Crypto.com is operating under the Central Bank of the UAE Stored Value Facilities (SVF) licence, which lets the company convert customer crypto into UAE dirhams and settle merchants immediately while applying KYC and AML checks.
- The service is available only to eligible UAE residents and public statements do not yet disclose which tokens are accepted, what fees apply, or how refunds and chargebacks will be handled.
- The launch is presented as part of Dubai’s D33 cashless strategy to raise cashless transactions and follows related regional pilots such as Emirates adding Crypto.com Pay for dirham‑settled bookings, signaling wider adoption of regulated crypto payment rails in travel.