The ADI Foundation and DCM Corp Limited have entered into a technical partnership designed to help banks and financial institutions across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Sub-Saharan Africa adopt tokenized deposits without replacing their existing core banking systems.

The agreement combines DCM's banking infrastructure technology with ADI Chain, the institutional blockchain infrastructure developed by the ADI Foundation. According to the companies, the arrangement targets a major obstacle to blockchain adoption among regulated financial institutions: the cost and operational disruption associated with rebuilding established banking infrastructure.

The ADI Foundation operates as an institutional gateway for public and private organizations seeking to deploy blockchain technology through infrastructure designed to align with regulatory and policy requirements. Its broader strategy includes connecting one billion people and institutions to the digital economy by 2030.

At the center of that strategy is ADI Chain, an institutional blockchain focused on stablecoins and real-world assets in the MENA region. The network provides settlement infrastructure for DDSC, a dirham-backed stablecoin initiated by International Holding Company and First Abu Dhabi Bank and licensed by the UAE Central Bank.

DCM Technology Connects Banking Systems to Blockchain

DCM specializes in blockchain-based banking infrastructure for regulated financial institutions. Its Side-core platform spans 11 domains and more than 50 features, enabling banks to introduce tokenized deposits and stablecoin payment capabilities alongside their existing core systems.

Under the partnership, DCM will provide the banking technology and implementation layer for issuing, managing and settling tokenized deposits on ADI Chain, while the ADI Foundation will supply the blockchain infrastructure, regional relationships and market access needed to support adoption across MENA and Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Side-core platform is designed to work with both legacy and modern banking platforms. Rather than requiring banks to replace their core systems, the technology is intended to operate alongside existing infrastructure while preserving customer accounts, compliance processes, transaction controls and operational procedures.

The platform also supports ISO 20022-native payment messaging, allowing blockchain transactions to be mapped into the payment workflows and message structures already used by financial institutions. ISO 20022 is the message standard that major payment systems, including SWIFT's cross-border messaging, have been migrating toward. DCM said its architecture can support reusable integrations, potentially allowing institutions using similar core systems to onboard more efficiently.

DCM's founders have worked on blockchain infrastructure for regulated financial institutions since 2016 across Europe, the Americas and Asia. The company said its architecture currently supports a live interbank payment network that has been operating in production since 2024.

Exclusive Roles Established Across Two Regions

The agreement establishes DCM as ADI's exclusive provider and implementation partner for tokenized deposit solutions across MENA and Sub-Saharan Africa. ADI, in turn, will serve as DCM's exclusive distribution and referral channel for those solutions on ADI Chain within the same markets.

The companies said their combined approach is designed to give banks access to blockchain-based financial services while retaining control of their existing banking infrastructure and regulatory processes.

As ADI Chain announced on X:

Your money moves slowly for one reason: the core banking system underneath it is too old to move fast and too risky to replace.

Our partnership with DCM is built around that constraint.

DCM's Side-core platform is designed to operate alongside a bank's existing infrastructure,… pic.twitter.com/BL5ruwJVdL

— ADI Chain (@ADIChain_) September 8, 2026

How Tokenized Deposits Work Under the Model

Tokenized deposits are blockchain representations of commercial bank deposits. Under DCM's model, the deposits remain within the bank's existing balance sheet and regulatory framework while gaining blockchain capabilities such as continuous transferability and programmable transaction functionality.

The approach effectively adds blockchain-based payment and settlement rails to existing deposits rather than requiring financial institutions to establish a separate banking system. Tokenized deposits have been explored by major global banks, including JPMorgan's Kinexys (formerly Onyx) platform, and have been the subject of industry pilots such as the Monetary Authority of Singapore's Project Guardian, which studies asset tokenization in financial services. The ADI–DCM partnership extends that model toward banks in emerging markets, where core system replacement can be particularly costly relative to available budgets.

Focus on Compliance and Operational Continuity

DCM's technology is designed to keep banks in control of customer accounts, transaction authorization, risk parameters and compliance procedures. It also supports established banking standards and is structured to operate within existing anti-money-laundering and compliance frameworks.

By combining DCM's integration layer with ADI Chain, the partnership is intended to provide banks with a practical route from conventional core banking infrastructure to blockchain-based financial services while minimizing operational disruption.

ADI Chain is designed for institutional applications involving financial services, stablecoins and tokenized assets. The partnership therefore seeks to make tokenized deposits a deployable banking capability rather than a large-scale core transformation project.

The agreement forms part of the ADI Foundation's broader effort to expand institutional blockchain adoption across emerging financial markets. For banks, the model could provide a way to introduce blockchain functionality while continuing to rely on established customer relationships, operational controls and compliance infrastructure. What bears watching going forward is whether the exclusivity arrangement produces announced bank deployments on ADI Chain in MENA and Sub-Saharan Africa, and how the model interacts with national regulations governing deposit tokenization in each jurisdiction.