Dubai Duty Free Enables SHIB Payments Across DXB and DWC Airports

Dubai Duty Free has become the first airport retailer in the Middle East to introduce a regulated digital payment solution, allowing customers to pay with cryptocurrencies such as Shiba Inu (SHIB) and 29 other assets across its facilities at DXB and DWC international airports. The system implements the Crypto.com Pay gateway to process retail transactions and credit them directly in local currency.

The feature is available to verified United Arab Emirates residents under a license issued by the country's Central Bank, eliminating price fluctuation risk for the retail establishment. The transaction mechanism calculates the exchange rate instantly within the user's mobile app and settles the received balance exclusively in United Arab Emirates dirhams (AED).

The rollout of this option covers physical stores located in Dubai International (DXB) and Al Maktoum International (DWC) terminals, as well as the merchant's official online store. According to operational documentation from the company, customers can select their funds in tokens such as SHIB, Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), or Dogecoin (DOGE) to settle their purchases.

The commercial deployment is grounded in an official licensing scheme within the region. Crypto.com secured a Stored Value Facilities (SVF) license granted by the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates, enabling the custody and processing of digital payments under state supervision.