If you thought “never say never” was a dumb saying, you are in for a good surprise. Something shocking happened over the weekend, and you just have to read it to believe it. Crypto Salaries have now become a thing! Who could have ever thought? 

Not even the biggest advocates of public crypto adoption could believe their eyes when they heard that the Dubai Court of First Instance had affirmed the legality of crypto payments for salaries.

It’s such a shocking decision. What spurred this new development was an employee's unlawful termination. The plaintiff’s employment contract with the company involved had clear terms of a specified monthly salary in fiat currency (UAE Dirhams), with an added 5,250 EcoWatt tokens. This contract is highly unusual given that EcoWatt is a form of crypto, and crypto salaries are not really a thing, at least not until now.

The main focus was on the fact that the employers refused to pay the 5,250 EcoWatt token as part of the salary agreement for an entire six months.

The employer apparently thought the EcoWatt part of the agreement was inconsiderable. But the judge ruled that salaries paid in cryptocurrency are legally valid. He also noted that crypto salaries show the change in the legal and economic landscape of the UAE.

Source:imgflip
Source: imgflip

What makes the decision surprising is that the same court had opposite feelings about another claim that involved EcoWatt tokens sometime in 2024. In fact, the court totally dismissed the case. However, it was due to the employee’s inability to provide a clear valuation of the cryptocurrency.

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This new stance on the issue of crypto salaries by the same court shows that crypto is achieving its dreams of widespread adoption. It’s one thing for everyday crypto users to recognize crypto this way, but it’s another for a court of law to do the same, and experts have recognized just how significant it is.


Navandeep Matta, senior associate, Kochhar & Co Inc. Legal Consultants (Dubai Branch), has said that the judgement's outcome symbolizes an advancement towards incorporating digital currencies into the framework set up for UAE laws.

Mahmoud Abdulwasel, managing partner at Wasel and Wasel, also agreed that the case signified the UAE courts’ readiness to adapt to the changing financial landscape. 

Recent news: UAE Residents Are Finally Able To Trade Crypto Directly With Bank Accounts.

The judgement handed out in this case is a game-changer for the crypto world. For a long time, the crypto community has been working on the issue of widespread adoption, and it has recorded a lot of successes. This one is an important addition, and it only goes to show that truly, anything is possible, so never say never.