Palm Azgar Finance, a Riyadh-headquartered financial services provider, has announced that its Shariah-compliant stablecoin, PUSD, will be deployed on ADI Chain, a layer-two blockchain built for institutional settlement in the Middle East. Through the PUSD’s launch, Palm Azgar Finance will be adding a second stablecoin to its Shariah-compliant network, which was originally designed to host a dirham-backed token.
PUSD holds approximately USD 2.3 billion in circulating supply. Each token is backed 1:1 by reserves held in Saudi riyals and UAE dirhams, both of which are pegged to the US dollar. The stablecoin already operates on decentralised networks like Ethereum, BNB Chain, Solana and Tron. With the deployment on the ADI Chain, PUSD will be expanding the number of networks where institutions can access the token.
Talking about the ADI Chain, the latter was built as the settlement layer for a dirham-backed stablecoin jointly initiated by International Holding Company and First Abu Dhabi Bank. After the Central Bank of the UAE licensed that token, the chain’s infrastructure now supports both dollar-linked and dirham-denominated assets on the same platform.
The network, designed to support settlement corridors linking the Gulf, the broader Middle East, and parts of Africa, receives its transaction fees through its native token, PUSD. PUSD serves corporate treasuries, exchanges, and payment processors instead of individual users. It has been structured to give institutions operating under Shariah-compliant frameworks access to on-chain settlement without requiring them to use interest-bearing instruments.
Talking about the UAE’s crypto ecosystem, the Gulf major has developed a multi-layered regulatory framework for digital assets over the past two years. While the Central Bank and Abu Dhabi Global Market have each established separate rules covering stablecoins and virtual asset providers, several institutions have moved to launch dirham-pegged tokens under that framework.
“In December 2025, telecom operator e& signed an agreement with Al Maryah Community Bank to pilot a dirham-pegged stablecoin for consumer payments. RAKBank received in-principle approval from the central bank the following month to issue its own dirham-backed token, pending final regulatory and operational conditions. Universal Digital launched USDU in January, a US dollar-backed stablecoin registered under the UAE’s Payment Token Services Regulation and the first dollar-denominated token approved for payment use within that framework. The Financial Services Regulatory Authority has also granted operating approvals inside ADGM’s financial zone to Tether, Ripple USD, and Circle,” reported CMC Crypto News.