Dubai’s VARA Issues Rules for Crypto Exchange-Traded Derivatives

Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, or VARA, oversees local crypto businesses and uses virtual asset service provider licenses to establish a regulated market. The increase to 50 licensed firms reflects Dubai's progress in attracting digital-asset companies, though the number of licenses does not necessarily represent the scale of actual operations.

VARA announced on June 29, 2026, that tokenized-asset platform Tribe Tokenisation FZE had received the market's 50th VASP license. No transaction value was disclosed. At the end of 2025, only 39 of the 50 licensees were fully operational, while the remainder may still have been in a controlled preparatory phase. VARA is verifying the latest operating figures for 2026.

The Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, or VARA, regulates virtual-asset activities in Dubai outside the Dubai International Financial Centre under Dubai Law No. 4 of 2022. That law and Cabinet Decision No. 111 of 2022 require operators to obtain authorization before conducting such activities. The case raises questions over whether offshore exchanges may directly solicit local residents and highlights the asset and legal risks consumers face when using unregulated platforms.

On March 5, 2026, VARA named four KuCoin entities that it said had offered or promoted virtual-asset services to Dubai residents without holding any VARA license and appeared to have misrepresented their licensing status. The regulator ordered an immediate halt to all unauthorized activities and warned that none of KuCoin’s promotions, advertising or solicitation had been approved. The notice did not disclose any fine.