Emirates Launches Crypto Flight Payments, But There’s a Catch for Most Travelers

Emirates crypto payments are live on emirates.com and the Emirates App through Crypto.com Pay. Only eligible UAE residents qualify, and only on fares priced in Emirati dirham (AED).

Emirates carried 53.2 million passengers last financial year across 152 cities in 80 countries. The new option covers one of those countries and one currency.

Emirates Crypto Payments Settle in Dirhams, Not Tokens

Customers fund the booking from a Crypto.com wallet. Emirates never receives Bitcoin, Ethereum or any other token.

Settlement arrives in dirhams, or in dirham-backed stablecoins approved by the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE). The conversion sits inside a Stored Value Facilities (SVF) licence, a Central Bank framework covering prepaid and wallet-based payment products.

That design is not new. Dubai Finance spelled out the same mechanism in May 2025. Crypto.com would convert payments into dirhams before moving them to government accounts.

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