Bloomberg: Stablecoin adoption surges in the Middle East, with many local companies optimistic about and involved in the field

Raafi Hossain, co-founder and CEO of Fasset, a Middle Eastern fintech company that intends to enter the stablecoin field, introduced several examples of customers using stablecoins, including the sale of $8 million Dubai real estate, Tanzanian buyers buying Indonesian cooking oil, and renting out Palm Jumeirah villas and private yachts for $100,000. Fasset is a Dubai-based "super app" focusing on markets from Morocco to Malaysia. Dubai Careem Networks FZ LLC, which provides taxi, food and financial services, and Botim, a communication app under Abu Dhabi Astra Tech, are also exploring the launch of payment tools powered by stablecoins. Hossain said stablecoins provide users with a way to "bypass geographical and institutional barriers and achieve high-value transactions efficiently and quickly." Mohammad El Saadi, vice president of Careem Pay, said the technology "has the potential to reduce fees, speed up processing and improve working capital management for cross-border transfers." The company has opened 8 new fiat payment channels in the UAE in the past 11 months. Meanwhile, Rishabh Singh, vice president of product at Astra Tech, said Botim has been experimenting with the dirham-pegged AE Coin, which has been approved by the UAE central bank. The total market value of all stablecoins in circulation has grown from less than $140 billion at the end of 2023 to more than $200 billion today, according to DeFi Llama. The dominant stablecoin so far is USDT, whose issuer Tether Holdings Ltd. recently said it will make more than $10 billion in net profit in 2024. The total circulating supply of USDT is close to $140 billion, according to CoinGecko. USDT usage is concentrated in the European, Middle Eastern and African time zones, especially in the Middle East. (Bloomberg)