In a significant evolution of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) judiciary’s approach to cryptocurrency, the Dubai Court of First Instance has made a landmark ruling, effectively recognizing the payment of salaries in cryptocurrency under employment contracts. This decision, rendered in case number 1739 of 2024 (Labor), represents a notable departure from a previous judgment by the same court in 2023, when a similar claim involving cryptocurrency was denied due to the employee’s failure to provide a precise valuation of the digital currency.
The case arose when the plaintiff employee filed a lawsuit claiming unpaid wages, wrongful termination compensation, and other related employment benefits. The plaintiff’s employment contract stipulated a monthly salary in fiat currency and an additional 5,250 EcoWatt tokens, a form of cryptocurrency. The dispute centered on the defendant’s failure to pay the EcoWatt token portion of the salary for six months and the allegedly wrongful termination of the plaintiff’s employment. The court’s disposition is particularly noteworthy for its recognition and enforcement of cryptocurrency as a valid form of remuneration, despite the traditional payment norms that typically involve fiat currencies.
In the 2023 case (Judgment No. 6947 of 2023), the court was faced with an employment dispute in which part of the employee’s remuneration was supposed to be paid in EcoWatt tokens. The...
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