Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, has received full market approval from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) to offer digital asset services in the UAE, clearing the final regulatory hurdle for dirham-denominated trading. The company is targeting launch in the coming weeks.

VARA's public register shows the regulator issued Payward FZCO, Kraken's local entity, a virtual asset service provider (VASP) license on Oct. 6. The license covers management and investment services as well as broker-dealer services.

At launch, Kraken's UAE clients will access spot and margin trading in UAE dirham (AED)-denominated pairs and direct deposit withdrawals, Payward announced on Monday. The approval lets the exchange serve retail, professional and institutional investors.

The full license builds on preliminary approval Payward received in May 2026, which allowed the firm to complete VARA's authorization process while preparing operational infrastructure.

What does the license change for Kraken?

The Oct. 6 VASP license converts Dubai from a market Kraken could only prepare for into one it can actively serve. The scope matters commercially:

• Broker-dealer services let Payward FZCO execute client orders in regulated virtual assets.
• Management and investment services open discretionary and advisory product lines.
• AED-denominated pairs remove foreign-exchange friction for local retail and institutional flows.
• Direct deposit withdrawals integrate UAE banking rails into the trading experience.

Serving all three investor categories — retail, professional and institutional — positions Kraken against both local exchanges and global rivals that hold partial VARA approvals.

How crowded is Dubai's licensed market?

VARA's registry now lists 58 licensed providers, up from 49 active companies in May 2026. That growth reflects Dubai's broader push to capture digital asset business under a dedicated regulatory framework distinct from the UAE's other financial regimes.

Banks and brokers are expanding in parallel. In September, Standard Chartered launched spot Bitcoin and Ether trading for institutional clients in the UAE through its Dubai International Financial Centre branch, regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority. In August, trading platform Capital.com said it plans to offer spot crypto services to UAE clients after its affiliate, Capital Vault, secured a virtual-asset license from the Capital Market Authority (CMA), which oversees a separate federal regime.

The interest extends to Kraken's ownership itself. Nasdaq has invested $100 million in Payward at a $21 billion valuation, according to a report.

What comes next?

Payward expects to bring AED pairs, margin trading and deposit withdrawals live within weeks. The rollout will test whether VARA's licensing pipeline — which has added nine licensed providers since May — translates into sustained market share for exchanges that completed the full authorization path.