Dubai-based Emirates Airline unveiled plans to introduce cryptocurrency payments for its customers as part of a preliminary deal with digital asset exchange Crypto.com, the companies said Wednesday.
The parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore integrating Crypto.com Pay into Emirates’ payment systems, with plans to roll out the feature sometime next year. If completed, it would make Emirates one of the first major global carriers to support crypto as a payment option.
Emirates Deputy President and CCO Adnan Kazim said the move is part of a broader strategy to “meet evolving customer preferences” and “tapping into younger, tech-savvy customer segments who prefer digital currencies” for payments.
Crypto.com, a Singapore-based crypto exchange with over 80 million users globally, operates its payments service Crypto.com Pay in select markets. The service allows customers to make purchases using popular cryptocurrencies like bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum’s ether (ETH) and Cronos’ CRO—the blockchain closely associated with Crypto.com.
Emirates’ announcement comes amid Dubai’s ambition to position itself as a global crypto hub underpinned by a regulatory framework attractive to digital asset companies. For example, Dubai earlier this year agreed to allow cryptocurrency payments for government services in a deal with Crypto.com.