The Central Bank of the UAE completed its first government payment using the Digital Dirham central bank digital currency in December 2025, marking a milestone in the country's CBDC programme. The transaction was a government salary payment processed through the wholesale CBDC infrastructure.
Wholesale Progress, Retail Delays
While the wholesale use case advanced, the CBUAE acknowledged that the consumer-facing retail Digital Dirham would not launch as originally planned in late 2025. The revised timeline targets a phased retail rollout beginning in the second half of 2026, citing the need for additional testing of offline payment capabilities and privacy features.
mBridge Connection
The Digital Dirham builds on the UAE's participation in Project mBridge, the BIS-backed multi-CBDC cross-border platform. The wholesale Digital Dirham infrastructure is designed to be interoperable with mBridge for cross-border settlement with participating central banks including those of China, Thailand, and Saudi Arabia.
What This Means
The government payment milestone demonstrates the Digital Dirham's technical readiness for institutional use cases. However, the retail delay reflects a broader global pattern - every major CBDC programme has found consumer-facing deployment more complex than wholesale applications.