Emirates NBD through Liv offers USDU stablecoin to customers

Liv, the digital bank by Emirates NBD, a banking group in the Middle East, North Africa, Türkiye and South Asia (MENATSA) region, has partnered with Universal Digital Intl Ltd (Universal) and Aquanow ME FZE (Aquanow), crypto exchange have introduced USDU, the UAE’s first Central Bank of the UAE registered USD-backed stablecoin, into the Liv ecosystem.

Aquanow is distributing USDU and operating Liv X crypto trading, and with the introduction of USDU into Liv’s digital asset offering, customers will be able to seamlessly manage both their traditional banking activities and digital asset portfolios within a single, highly secure environment.

While customers will not be able to use USDU for purchasing of products and services within the UAE, it will allow them to access a USD backed stablecoin that is safeguarded by the CBUAE and regulated under FSRA in ADGM for buying virtual assets, exchanging between fiat AED currency and USDU or even into AED stablecoin AE COIN.

The integration is powered by Aquanow’s institutional-grade infrastructure, providing the liquidity and digital asset rails underpinning both USDU distribution and Liv X. Having processed over $130 billion in trading volume, Aquanow delivers the scale and resilience required for institutional digital asset services.

Rohit Garg, Group Head of Retail Products and Chief Digital Officer of Retail Banking and Wealth Management, Emirates NBD, said, “Emirates NBD continues to champion financial innovation that aligns with the goals of UAE’s progressive digital economy. By integrating the CBUAE-registered USDU stablecoin into the Liv ecosystem, we are not only expanding our digital asset capabilities, but also offering our customers a secure, transparent and regulated bridge to digital assets within their everyday banking app. Building on the momentum of our crypto trading launch in 2025, this strategic partnership with Universal and Aquanow empowers our customers to participate in the digital asset economy within a trusted, world-class banking environment.”

Phil Sham, CEO, Aquanow, noted that their role is to make regulated digital asset access work at bank grade standards. He adds, “Powering both USDU distribution and Liv X trading in a single stack is exactly the kind of integrated infrastructure the UAE market has been building toward: a CBUAE-registered stablecoin, a VARA-licensed broker-dealer and one of the region’s largest digital banks, working end-to-end within regulated rails.”

Juha Viitala, Senior Executive Officer, Universal, also explained that USDU was built to bring transparent, USD-backed settlement into UAE regulatory frameworks. He states, “Seeing it become the first USD-backed token that Liv customers can trade, inside the app they already bank with, and through Aquanow’s VARA-licensed infrastructure, shows what happens when a CBUAE-registered digital asset meets a regulated distribution partner and a bank willing to lead. This is what bank-grade stablecoin infrastructure looks like when it reaches the customer.”