A UAE-licensed company (e.g. General Trading) wants to use cryptocurrency for payments — both paying suppliers and receiving payments from clients.
In the UAE, two things are regulated independently:
Licensed activity (e.g. General Trading) — governed by the commercial licence issued by the relevant licensing authority (DED, free zone authority, etc.)
Virtual asset activities — governed by a separate regulatory framework depending on the emirate of the company's registration.
A General Trading licence does not grant the right to conduct virtual asset activities as defined under UAE law. However, using cryptocurrency as a payment method for ordinary commercial transactions is a distinct question — and is treated differently from providing virtual asset services to third parties.
Law No. 4 of 2022 (Dubai Virtual Assets Law — establishes the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) and defines regulated virtual asset activities