Emirates has launched Crypto.com Pay on its website and app, letting eligible UAE residents settle flight bookings from a Crypto.com wallet, the Dubai carrier said on July 28.
The option is tightly scoped. It is open only to UAE residents with a Crypto.com account, for bookings priced and settled in dirhams, a limit that flows from the licensing structure rather than the technology. Crypto.com’s Dubai entity converts the customer’s crypto to dirhams and passes fiat to the airline, so Emirates carries no price risk. That makes this a domestic-market payment feature for now, not a way for international flyers to buy tickets in crypto.
The launch implements a memorandum of understanding signed in July 2025 to integrate Crypto.com Pay into the airline’s payment systems. The integration runs through Crypto.com’s Dubai entity, which it says is the first virtual asset service provider (VASP) to be granted a Stored Value Facilities (SVF) licence by the Central Bank of the UAE, and operates within that framework.
At checkout on emirates.com or the Emirates App, customers select Crypto.com Pay and approve the payment in the Crypto.com app, either by redirect on mobile or by scanning a QR code on desktop, before the booking confirmation and e-ticket are issued.
“Bringing this initiative to life delivers on our commitment to expanding customer choice in how they pay for travel,” said Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer. He said moving from signature to launch in under a year reflected the UAE’s regulatory environment.
Eric Anziani, president and chief operating officer at Crypto.com, said the Emirates partnership was a milestone for the company’s Pay feature.
The launch supports the Dubai Cashless Strategy under the D33 Economic Agenda, which targets making 90% of financial transactions across government and private sectors digital by the end of 2026. It builds on Emirates’ payments partnership with Dubai Finance and follows Crypto.com’s own agreement with Dubai Finance to accept digital payments for government services.