The UAE just flipped the script on crypto by officially recognizing it as a valid way to pay salaries. The Dubai Court of First Instance dropped a bombshell ruling that lets employers pay workers in cryptocurrency. 

It’s a major change from the court’s decision last year when a similar claim got shut down because the employee couldn’t nail down the exact value of the crypto he was owed.

In this latest case, an employee dragged their employer to court over unpaid wages, wrongful termination, and some other beef related to their employment contract. 

The contract clearly stated the worker’s monthly salary in fiat, with a bonus of 5,250 EcoWatt tokens—a type of cryptocurrency. 

But the employer decided not to pay up the crypto portion for six months, triggering a legal battle that’s now paved the way for crypto payments to be recognized by the court.

Not so fast with the crypto

Back in 2023, the same Dubai court wasn’t as crypto-friendly. Another employee, who was also supposed to get paid in EcoWatt tokens, tried to get the court to enforce the payment. 

But the court wasn’t having it. The employee couldn’t show exactly how much those tokens were worth in cold, hard cash, so the court refused to award the amount in crypto.

Here’s the deal: The court wanted solid proof—like, how much those tokens were worth in fiat currency before they’d even think about making the employer pay.

They basically said, “Show us the money… or at least tell us how much money we’re talking about.”  Without that, the court wasn’t going to enforce the payment in EcoWatt tokens.

The court’s ruling acknowledged the employment contract, noted the promised salary, but because the employee didn’t provide any solid proof of the crypto’s value, they didn’t force the employer to pay in tokens.

The court stated that: 

“It is established according to the Court of Cassation that determining the employment relationship, its start, duration, and the resulting effects falls under the authority of the trial court.”

The 2024 judgment

This year, the Dubai Court did a full 180. They looked at a similar case—same tokens, same issues—but this time, they ruled in favor of the employee.

This time, the court wasn’t just saying, “Okay, pay the guy.” They were saying, “Pay him in those exact EcoWatt tokens, not in fiat.”

The court said wages are a right of the employee, and if the contract says crypto, then crypto it is. They pointed to Article 912 of the UAE Civil Transactions Law, which says that wages are the worker’s right in return for the agreed work. 

They also referenced the Federal Decree-Law No. (33) of 2021, which says employers have to pay wages on time, either through the Wage Protection System (WPS) or any other approved systems. 

The court added that the employer didn’t show any proof that they’d paid the worker in EcoWatt tokens, so they ruled in the employee’s favor.