Kraken Parent Payward Wins Full Dubai VARA Approval to Serve UAE Investors
Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, has secured full regulatory approval from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), clearing a major hurdle in its planned expansion into the United Arab Emirates. The approval, announced on Monday, October 12, follows preliminary clearance granted in May.
Payward expects to begin serving retail, professional and institutional investors in the UAE in the coming weeks, though no specific launch date has been announced. The initial rollout will allow customers to trade cryptocurrencies through spot and margin markets using pairs denominated in UAE dirhams, with direct deposits and withdrawals in the local currency.
Other planned services include on-chain staking, tokenised equities through xStocks, and the Krak transfer product, each subject to applicable regulatory permissions. Margin trading involves borrowing to increase exposure and can magnify both gains and losses, a risk flagged in standard disclosures.
Dubai's VARA framework brings virtual assets under licensed regulation as the emirate and Abu Dhabi's ADGM compete as digital finance centres. For Chinese residents in Dubai who hold crypto assets, a licensed platform with direct dirham rails moves funding on and off exchanges onto a compliance path banks can recognise.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：迪拜码头区天际线。摄影：Norlando Pobre，CC BY 2.0，来源：Wikimedia Commons
