The Digital Belongings Regulatory Authority (VARA), Dubai’s crypto regulator, has granted its fiftieth digital asset service supplier (VASP) license.
On Monday, VARA mentioned its newest approval went to tokenized belongings platform Tribe Tokenisation FZE.
The milestone supplies one measure of the expansion of Dubai’s crypto licensing regime, though license totals alone don’t present what number of companies are operational or the extent of enterprise they generate.
A VARA spokesperson advised Cointelegraph that holding an lively license doesn’t essentially imply a agency has accomplished its business launch. Newly licensed firms could undergo a managed operationalization interval earlier than providing companies or onboarding prospects.
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On the finish of 2025, VARA categorized 39 licensed VASPs as totally operational. The spokesperson mentioned the regulator is validating an up to date determine for 2026.
Dubai’s bid to draw crypto companies
Dubai has spent the previous a number of years positioning itself as a world hub for digital asset companies. As a part of that effort, the emirate established VARA in March 2022 as a devoted crypto regulator and has sought to draw crypto companies by means of a standalone licensing framework.
Towards that backdrop, Dubai’s 50 licensed VASPs exceed the totals reported in Hong Kong and Singapore, two different jurisdictions competing to draw regulated crypto companies. Every jurisdiction licenses several types of crypto companies, which means the headline totals don’t signify equivalent classes of companies.
As of Friday, the Financial Authority of Singapore (MAS) listed 37 main fee establishments (MPI) licensed to offer digital fee token (DPT) companies. Singapore regulates DPT companies inside its broader funds regime quite than by means of a standalone VASP regulator like VARA.
Checklist of licensed digital asset buying and selling platforms in Hong Kong. Supply: SFC
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Fee (SFC) has listed 13 formally licensed digital asset buying and selling platforms. The rely is narrower as a result of the regime is particularly restricted to platform operators.
The VARA spokesperson attributed Dubai’s market progress to its activity-based regulatory framework and broader monetary ecosystem, and mentioned the regulator additionally considers transaction volumes, belongings below administration, employment and audited monetary information when assessing market exercise.
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