The United Arab Emirates is transferring the blockchain infrastructure behind its national digital identity system, UAEPASS, onto Avalanche technology. The move, announced by the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) in coordination with Ava Labs, targets the Digital Vault component that stores and shares verified documents for citizens, residents and visitors.

UAEPASS currently serves approximately 12.5 million people and provides access to more than 15,000 public and private-sector services. More than 350 government and private institutions depend on the platform for identity authentication and secure digital transactions. The Digital Vault allows users to hold credentials such as trade licenses or academic certificates and present them for verification without repeated manual checks.

Dedicated Avalanche Layer 1 for Control and Performance

The upgraded system will run on a dedicated Avalanche Layer 1 blockchain rather than a shared public network. This arrangement isolates UAEPASS traffic so that activity elsewhere on Avalanche does not compete for capacity. TDRA retains direct control over network membership, permissions and configuration, giving the regulator flexibility as user volumes and document requests grow.

Saeed Belhoul, Dgov Operations Director at TDRA, described the Digital Vault as a central element of daily life in the UAE. He stated that the government intends to maintain public trust by placing the vault on infrastructure able to meet rising demand for years ahead.

John Nahas of Ava Labs described the chosen setup as high-performance infrastructure operating behind the scenes to keep digital services secure and seamless for millions of users. The project involves collaboration with consultancy firm Deca4 and Ava Labs. The new system has not yet gone live.

Parallel Government Use of Avalanche Technology

The UAE deployment follows a similar large-scale application in the United States. The California Department of Motor Vehicles placed 42 million vehicle title records on its own Avalanche Layer 1. Title transfers that previously required about two weeks can now be completed in minutes.

Both initiatives apply permissioned Avalanche Layer 1 networks to high-volume public-record systems. In the UAE case, the blockchain verifies the authenticity of shared documents at the point of presentation, reducing the need for separate investigations by each receiving institution.

Following the announcement, the Avalanche native token traded near $7.48 with elevated volume, according to market data reported alongside the news.

UAEPASS functions include identity verification, digital document signing and access to e-government and private business services. Officials present the migration as a step to keep verification processes fast and reliable while the platform expands.