RAKBank AED Stablecoin (AED-RAKBANK) pre-launch stablecoin tracker

AED-RAKBANK is RAKBank's pre-launch dirham stablecoin, notable less for its design than for its issuer: the first conventional commercial-bank AED payment token under the Central Bank of the UAE's regime, distinct from Zand AED, AE Coin and the FAB/ADQ/IHC dirham initiative. The in-principle approval came on January 7, 2026 under the Payment Token Services Regulation, conditional on RAKBank completing the remaining regulatory and operational requirements. That regulation shapes the product before any code ships. A bank may not act as a payment token issuer itself, so the token has to come from a licensed subsidiary, affiliate or related entity, and a licensed issuer may only issue dirham tokens to UAE residents. The announced design covers the expected ground: 1:1 dirhams in segregated regulated accounts, full par redemption, audited smart contracts and real-time reserve attestation, aimed at payments, asset tokenization and cross-border settlement. No ticker, chain, issuing entity or launch date has been disclosed, and the bank says only that a pilot phase will follow in due course. Until contracts and a first reserve report exist, the approval describes intent rather than a token Pharos can assess.