Kraken gets preliminary UAE approval for Dubai launch

Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken moved closer to a launch in the United Arab Emirates after its operator, Payward, received preliminary approval from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), according to the company.

Payward on Thursday announced its UAE expansion alongside receiving preliminary approval for a broker-dealer, investment and management licence from VARA.

A spokesperson for Kraken told Cointelegraph the preliminary approval was granted on Thursday, with a full launch date to be confirmed.

At launch, Kraken plans to offer UAE dirham (AED) funding, along with a full suite of services including margin and over-the-counter trading, as well as access to Kraken Prime for institutional clients, the representative added.

The move builds on Kraken’s earlier regulatory footprint in the region, including its 2022 approval to operate in the UAE under Abu Dhabi’s financial free zone framework.

Dubai’s VARA register now includes 49 active crypto firms

Dubai’s public VARA register currently includes 49 active companies spanning exchange, broker-dealer, custody and lending businesses.

The list includes major global crypto players such as Binance, Crypto.com, OKX, Deribit and HashKey, reflecting Dubai’s push to position itself as a regional hub for companies in the digital asset industry.

Source: Kraken

Kraken and parent company Payward do not yet appear on the regulator’s public register. The latest company recorded on the list was centralized crypto exchange CoinCorner, which received approval to operate virtual asset broker-dealer services on May 5.

Related: Crypto.com receives UAE license for Dubai government crypto payments

Dubai remains a major crypto hub despite recent Iran-linked tensions

Kraken’s expansion in Dubai adds to signs that the UAE continues to emerge as a major global crypto hub, even as recent Iran-linked regional tensions have unsettled some investors and disrupted major events across the Gulf.

Industry executives have increasingly pointed to regulatory clarity as a key reason crypto firms are choosing the UAE over jurisdictions with more fragmented or uncertain rules.

“Dubai wrote a rulebook for crypto before most jurisdictions even acknowledged the asset class,” Payward and Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi said in the announcement. “That clarity is why real liquidity and institutional capital now sit in the UAE,” he added.