Dubai Duty Free now accepts crypto payments across DXB and online channels

August 6, 2026
3 min read

Dubai Duty Free is the first airport retailer in the Middle East to accept Crypto.com Pay.
The option runs at Dubai International Airport (DXB), Al Maktoum International Airport, and online.
Settlement reaches the retailer in UAE dirhams through Crypto.com’s regulated payment infrastructure.
The service is open to eligible UAE residents and supports the Dubai Cashless Strategy.

Dubai Duty Free now accepts crypto payments, a step that puts one of the world’s largest single-airport retailers inside Dubai’s wider move toward digital money. The retailer has become the first airport operator in the Middle East to add Crypto.com Pay as a regulated digital payment option. Eligible customers can use it at Dubai International Airport (DXB), at Al Maktoum International Airport, and on the online store at dubaidutyfree.com.

The rollout completes a partnership the two companies signed in July 2025. Back then, Dubai Duty Free and Crypto.com agreed a memorandum of understanding to study blockchain-based payments and other digital commerce ideas. That study has now turned into a live service.

How the payment works

The system sits inside the checkout customers already use. In a store, the point-of-sale terminal creates a QR code showing the amount in UAE dirhams. The shopper scans it with the Crypto.com app and approves the payment from a digital wallet. Online, the same QR flow appears before the order goes through. Dubai Duty Free receives its settlement in UAE dirhams through Crypto.com’s regulated payment infrastructure, so the retailer never holds the digital asset itself.

Access is limited. Only eligible UAE residents with a Crypto.com account can use the service for now. Ramesh Cidambi, managing director of Dubai Duty Free, said the launch moves the July agreement into its roll-out phase and adds convenience for customers while supporting Dubai’s goal of leading global digital commerce. Eric Anziani, president and chief operating officer of Crypto.com, described the launch as another milestone in bringing regulated digital payments into everyday spending.

Why Dubai Duty Free now accepts crypto payments under central-bank rules

The service runs under the framework set by the Central Bank of the UAE. Crypto.com said it is the first Virtual Asset Service Provider in the country to receive a Stored Value Facilities licence from the central bank, which lets it offer regulated payment services. Because Dubai Duty Free now accepts crypto payments under that licence, each transaction stays inside central-bank supervision. That licence is the reason the offer counts as a regulated digital payment option rather than an informal crypto transfer.

This detail carries weight for the region. For years, crypto in the Gulf sat outside clear rules. A central-bank licence changes the footing, because it lets a large, cash-heavy retailer take digital-asset payments without stepping outside supervision.

Where this fits in Dubai’s plan

Dubai Duty Free now accepts crypto payments alongside Apple Pay, Alipay and TerraPay, its existing digital options. The addition feeds directly into the Dubai Cashless Strategy under the Dubai Economic Agenda, known as D33. That plan targets 90 percent of financial transactions across the public and private sectors to be cashless by the end of 2026.

Seen at scale, Dubai Duty Free crypto payments form one node in a much larger shift. Travel retail moves a high volume of transactions across many currencies and many nationalities. Adding a regulated crypto rail to that flow tests whether digital assets can work for routine buying rather than trading alone.

The wider signal is about method, not novelty. When Dubai Duty Free now accepts crypto payments through a licensed provider, it shows the emirate routing new payment types through its regulator instead of around it. For a city aiming to sit among the world’s top cashless economies, that route matters more than the technology on show.

How PIF Is Investing in EVs: Lucid’s $1.4bn Turnaround Plan Takes Shape

How PIF is investing in EVs comes into sharper focus this week, as Lucid Group laid out a $1.4bn plan to trim cash burn and steady its business. The electric vehicle maker posted second-quarter revenue of $405m, up 56 per cent from a year earlier. It built 4,774 cars and delivered 3,953, gains of 24 and 19 per cent. The results land as the company works to prove it can turn engineering strength into steady sales. Chief executive Silvio Napoli put it bluntly. “Lucid has leading technology, compelling products and deeply committed people, but potential is not performance,” he said. “We are going back to basics, with a clear focus on cash, customers, and culture,” Napoli added.

The plan leans on three areas: cash and cost, customer and quality, culture and team. Napoli also halved the number of people reporting straight to him.

Where the savings come from

Lucid mapped out $1.4bn in cash flow improvements for 2026. Roughly $600m to $800m comes from smaller inventories. Around $500m sits in capital spending, with close to $200m in operating costs. A US workforce cut announced in June should save about $158m a year. The company slowed production on purpose to match output with demand and hold on to cash. It ended the quarter with $3bn in liquidity, which it says covers needs well into 2027.

For newcomers, think of it as a household trimming subscriptions before payday. Less waste now buys time later.

How PIF is investing in EVs through Saudi factories

The Saudi Public Investment Fund owns most of Lucid and has poured more than $8 billion into it since 2018. That backing sits at the heart of PIF’s Lucid investment strategy, and it connects the carmaker to Vision 2030 electric vehicles goals. The fund treats Lucid as a way to diversify a crude-reliant economy and build skills at home. Saudi Arabia wants a homegrown auto industry, and Lucid Group Saudi Arabia operations are a big part of that push.

The clearest sign of how PIF is investing in EVs stands in King Abdullah Economic City. Lucid’s AMP-2 King Abdullah Economic City plant has moved from construction to industrialisation. Crews are installing and testing systems for stamping, body, paint and final assembly ahead of production trials. Lucid says the site will export cars beyond the kingdom as output grows. The Saudi government has agreed to buy up to 100,000 vehicles over a decade.

“The actions underway are intended to strengthen the company’s execution, improve the customer experience, and translate Lucid’s technology and product leadership into long-term value,” chairman Turqi Alnowaiser said.

What comes next

Lucid names four must-win priorities: the $1.4bn savings plan, AMP-2, a robotaxi programme, and a midsize model. The company frames these as the base for its next chapter. The robotaxi work with Uber and Nuro has entered active testing, with close to 100 vehicles running across the San Francisco Bay Area and Houston. Production-validation Gravity cars are already reaching Nuro.

So how PIF is investing in EVs looks less like a quick bet and more like patient money tied to a national plan. The near-term test is simple. Can Lucid turn its technology into steady output and healthier cash? The next few quarters will show whether the reset holds.

By Tariq Al-Mansouri
3 min read

Dubai Duty Free

Dubai Duty Free now accepts crypto payments across DXB and online channels

By Adnan Al-Jaziri
3 min read

Movies

Marvel’s star Sebastian Stan welcomes first child with Annabelle Wallis, reports say

Sebastian Stan welcomes first child with partner Annabelle Wallis, several entertainment outlets reported this week. TMZ, People, and Us Weekly said the couple became parents in July. Neither Stan nor Wallis has confirmed the birth in public. The reports rely on sources described as having direct knowledge of the couple.

Stan is 43. Wallis is 41. The two have kept their private life quiet for years, and the baby news arrived the same way, through unnamed sources rather than a formal statement. Reporters have not learned the baby’s name, sex or exact birth date.

Reports say Sebastian Stan welcomes first child

Word that Sebastian Stan welcomes first child spread across entertainment sites within hours. Each outlet placed the birth last month. The reporting leaned on people described as close to the pair, not on any statement from the couple. That silence fits a pattern. Stan told Vanity Fair in 2025 that real privacy is hard to hold onto now, and he and Wallis have guarded theirs closely.

The pregnancy itself became public earlier this year. Stan confirmed it in a May 2026 interview with Deadline, and Annabelle Wallis, pregnant at the time, showed her baby bump on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival soon after. Before that, photographers had caught the couple on a walk in New York, where the bump was visible.

Sebastian Stan and Annabelle Wallis, a quiet couple

The pair were first linked in May 2022. They appeared together at Robert Pattinson’s birthday party in New York, and a since-deleted photo seemed to show them kissing. Wallis had ended a four-year relationship with actor Chris Pine not long before. For years, fans typed “Sebastian Stan girlfriend” into search bars, since the couple rarely appeared in public together.

They broke that habit once. At the 2025 Golden Globes, they made their red carpet debut as a couple. Stan won Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy, for A Different Man. He closed his acceptance speech by pointing toward Wallis and saying, “Annabelle, I love you.” The two shared a kiss after the win.

Careers on either side of the birth

Stan built his name in Marvel films. Known to fans as the Winter Soldier, the Sebastian Stan Marvel run includes Avengers: Endgame and Thunderbolts, with Avengers: Doomsday still ahead. He also earned an Oscar nomination for playing Donald Trump in The Apprentice.

Wallis has her own slate. The Peaky Blinders actress Annabelle Wallis has appeared in The Mummy, The Tudors and the horror film Annabelle. She stars next in the action film Mutiny alongside Jason Statham, and she is set to appear in Netflix’s Unabomb.

Stan on becoming a father

Long before the phrase “Sebastian Stan welcomes first child” ran as a headline, the actor spoke about the role ahead. In a May interview with Deadline, he was plain about it. He said, “I want to be a good dad. I’m feeling the responsibility of being a good father. And not to mention a good man.” Age, he added, had shifted how he saw those roles. “I’m 43, and I feel, in a lot of ways, I’m just starting to learn now. It’s just crazy to me.”

He tied that view to his stepfather, whom he credited with a “quiet integrity” and “quiet strength.” Stan described a model of steady presence: “You’ve got to provide and protect.” With the birth now reported, the news that Sebastian Stan welcomes first child closes a chapter the couple had kept mostly to themselves.

By Salma Al-Tamimi
3 min read

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Dubai Duty Free now accepts crypto payments across DXB and online channels

Dubai Duty Free now accepts crypto payments across DXB and online channels

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