According to Odaily, the United Arab Emirates has made significant updates to its judicial approach towards cryptocurrency. The Dubai Court of First Instance has acknowledged the validity of wages paid in cryptocurrency under employment contracts. Irina Heaver, a partner at UAE law firm NeosLegal, explained that the ruling in Case No. 1739 of 2024 marks a departure from the court's stance earlier in 2023, when similar claims were dismissed due to the lack of accurate valuation of the involved cryptocurrency. Heaver believes this indicates a 'progressive approach' towards integrating digital currencies into the national legal and economic framework.
The recent case involved an employee who sued their employer for unpaid wages, wrongful termination compensation, and other benefits. The uniqueness of the case lies in the employment contract, which stipulated not only traditional statutory currency wages but also a monthly payment of 5,250 EcoWatt tokens as part of the salary. The core of the dispute was the employer's failure to pay the EcoWatt token portion of the wages for six months. In 2023, the court initially recognized the validity of the EcoWatt tokens in the contract but did not enforce payment in cryptocurrency due to the employee's inability to provide a clear method for converting the tokens to statutory currency.
However, in 2024, the court took a significant step forward on this issue. It ruled in favor of the employee, explicitly requiring the employer to pay the wages in cryptocurrency as stipulated in the employment contract, without the need to convert it to statutory currency. Heaver stated that this ruling not only reflects the court's growing acceptance of cryptocurrency in employment contracts but also underscores the court's recognition of the transformative nature of financial transactions in the Web3 economy.
