Dubai Court Rules in Favor of Salaries Payment in Crypto
Hassan, a Cryptonews.com journalist with 6+ years of experience in Web3 journalism, brings deep knowledge across Crypto, Web3 Gaming, NFTs, and Play-to-Earn sectors. His work has appeared in...
In a groundbreaking decision, the Dubai Court of First Instance has ruled that crypto can be legally recognized as a valid form of salary payment under employment contracts.
This ruling, which emerged from case number 1739 of 2024, marks a significant shift in the United Arab Emirates’ legal stance on digital currencies.
Legal professionals, including Irina Heaver, a partner at UAE law firm NeosLegal, have praised the ruling as a “progressive approach” that aligns with the evolving nature of financial transactions in the Web3 economy.
The legal battle that led to this landmark ruling centered around an employment dispute where the plaintiff, an employee, claimed unpaid wages, wrongful termination compensation, and other benefits.
The employment contract specified a monthly salary to be paid partly in fiat currency and partly in 5,250 EcoWatt tokens, a form of cryptocurrency.
Over six months, the employer failed to pay the cryptocurrency portion of the salary, prompting the employee to file a lawsuit.
In its 2024 ruling, the Dubai Court of First Instance sided with the employee, recognizing the validity of the cryptocurrency payment as outlined in the employment contract.
The court ordered the employer to fulfill the contractual obligation to pay the salary in EcoWatt tokens without requiring the conversion of the payment into fiat currency.
This decision marks a significant departure from the court’s earlier stance in a similar case in 2023, where the claim for cryptocurrency wages was denied due to the lack of a straightforward
Read more on cryptonews.com
