The recent story that the UAE and India carried out an oil deal using XRP token over CFT (Crypto trading Fund) ledger, is not only unbacked and false but also illegal in the UAE.
The story which was first published in a media entity called Cryptoalert soon was copied and published as if it was real news.
The cryptoalert piece stated that “In a historic shift, India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have completed their first-ever crude oil transaction using their local currencies, effectively bypassing the US dollar. This landmark trade signals a broader strategy, set in motion last July, aimed at promoting trade in native currencies and cutting down on dollar-conversion costs.”
It also stated that the trade was integrated with the XRP Ledger System CryptoTradingFund (CTF), allowing customers to earn cash back rewards in CTF tokens.
The piece did not mention which entities had transacted this crude oil transaction, nor where there any social media posts, press releases or confirmations from either CTF or Ripple on the topic. Yet this did not stop many media entities in the crypto and blockchain ecosystem from publishing the story.
Since then prominent blockchain pundits have noted how media publish false stories to push crypto users to purchase XRP and CFT token.
Ripple is not XRP
“XRP” and “Ripple” are often erroneously used interchangeably. Ripple (previously Ripple Labs) is a company, and XRP is the name of the native cryptocurrency for XRP Ledger, an open-source distributed ledger run by the XRPL foundation.
As such proponents of XRP are distributed across many entities and individuals and not only Ripple which uses XRP ledger in some of its products.
UAE Dirham backed stablecoin
In addition, the UAE Central Bank recently announced its payment token regulation which stipulates that stablecoins, and crypto cannot be considered as legal tender in the UAE. The only stablecoin that the UAE will allow for payments inside the UAE are digital dirham stablecoins.
To date no digital dirham stablecoin has been issued within the UAE. As such it would be not only impossible but also illegal for oil to be sold to another country using a digital asset, crypto other than the dirham stablecoin which is pegged to the UAE Dirham.
XRP recognized in DIFC
The only recognition for XRP in the UAE is within DIFC ( Dubai International Financial Center). In November 2023, two new crypto tokens TonCoin (TON), and XRP joined Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum, and Litecoin as recognized crypto tokens by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), the financial regulatory agency of the special economic zone, the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). The announcement of XRP being accepted into DIFC as a crypto token was published in a Ripple press release.
The DFSA the crypto token regime now includes five crypto tokens that can be utilized by virtual asset firms within the DIFC. Licensed firms will be able to incorporate XRP and TON into their virtual asset services. XRP and TON will be available for use by institutions located in the DIFC to accelerate faster, more efficient global value exchange.
As such the only legal utility for XRP would be in a free zone DIFC to be specific.
