Dubai Crypto Regulator VARA Grants 50th Virtual Asset License

The Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), Dubai's crypto regulator, has granted its 50th virtual asset service provider (VASP) license.

On Thursday, VARA said its latest approval went to tokenized assets platform Tribe Tokenisation FZE.

The milestone provides one measure of the growth of Dubai's crypto licensing regime, though license totals alone do not show how many firms are operational or the level of business they generate.

A VARA spokesperson told Cointelegraph that holding an active license does not necessarily mean a firm has completed its commercial launch. Newly licensed companies may go through a controlled operationalization period before offering services or onboarding customers.

At the end of 2025, VARA classified 39 licensed VASPs as fully operational. The spokesperson said the regulator is validating an updated figure for 2026.

Dubai's bid to attract crypto firms

Dubai has spent the past several years positioning itself as a global hub for digital asset businesses. As part of that effort, the emirate established VARA in March 2022 as a dedicated crypto regulator and has sought to attract crypto businesses through a standalone licensing framework.

Against that backdrop, Dubai's 50 licensed VASPs exceed the totals reported in Hong Kong and Singapore, two other jurisdictions competing to attract regulated crypto businesses. Each jurisdiction licenses different types of crypto businesses, meaning the headline totals do not represent identical categories of firms.

As of Thursday, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) listed 37 major payment institutions (MPI) authorized to provide digital payment token (DPT) services. Singapore regulates DPT services within its broader payments regime rather than through a standalone VASP regulator like VARA.

List of licensed virtual asset trading platforms in Hong Kong. Source: SFC

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has listed 13 formally licensed virtual asset trading platforms. The count is narrower because the regime is specifically limited to platform operators.

The VARA spokesperson attributed Dubai's market growth to its activity-based regulatory framework and broader financial ecosystem, and said the regulator also considers transaction volumes, assets under management, employment and audited financial data when assessing market activity.