The ADI Foundation and DCM Corp Limited have entered a technical partnership aimed at helping 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. The companies said the arrangement is intended to address a major obstacle to blockchain adoption among regulated financial institutions: the cost and operational disruption associated with rebuilding established banking infrastructure.
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 covers 11 domains and more than 50 features, allowing 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 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 payment workflows and message structures already used by financial institutions. 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 keeping control of their existing banking infrastructure and regulatory processes.
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
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.
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 represents part of 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.