A dollar-pegged stablecoin built to meet Islamic financial standards is now operating on a fresh Middle East-anchored blockchain network, adding a second digital currency to a settlement platform backed by some of Abu Dhabi’s biggest financial names.
Backed by Gulf currencies, not just the dollar
PUSDissued by Palm Azgar Finance, holds reserves in Saudi riyals and United Arab Emirates dirhams – both pegged to the US dollar – rather than holding US dollars directly.
This structure is central to the Shariah-compliant project, which targets institutions operating under Islamic financial regulations that prohibit interest and require asset security.
The stablecoin has approximately $2.3 billion in circulation and operates on several major blockchains, including Ethereum, BNB Chain, Solana, and Tron. The newest addition is ADI Chain.
ADI Chain was built as a settlement layer for the dirham-based token, which was created through a partnership between International Holding Company and First Abu Dhabi Bank. The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates has licensed it.
With the currently available PUSD solution, institutions using the network can settle transactions using a dollar-pegged or dirham-denominated token operating on the same platform.
The ADI Foundation says the network is intended to support payments corridors in the Persian Gulf, the wider Middle East and parts of Africa.
A $3 trillion market in the crosshairs
According to the ADI Foundation, Islamic financial assets worldwide are estimated at over $3 trillion. This market has traditionally been served by time-honored banks and funds Sharia guidelines, but blockchain-based alternatives have failed to break through on a enormous scale.
Sharia law in brief
Sharia law prohibits interest, limits speculation, and requires financial instruments to be backed by real assets – rules that outright disqualify most crypto products. For a stablecoin to meet this standard, it must have verifiable reserves and not generate interest-based returns.
Certification from a board of qualified Islamic scholars is typically required, although the report does not confirm whether PUSD obtained it.
PUSD’s transition to ADI Chain is an attempt to change this, aimed at corporate treasuries, exchanges and payment processors looking for compliant digital settlement tools.
The United Arab Emirates has become one of the more energetic ones regulatory environments for stablecoins. The Central Bank and the Abu Dhabi Global Market have introduced several frameworks, covering both dirham-pegged and dollar-denominated tokens.
Global players already in the UAE space
Approvals have also been extended to recognized names. Tether, RippleUSDand Circle obtained permission to operate in the ADGM financial zone from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority.
This puts PUSD in a field that includes some of the largest stablecoin issuers in the world, competing for a share of institutional transaction flow in one of the most energetic financial centers in the region.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
