The Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) has granted Payward FZCO — the parent of crypto exchange Kraken — Full Market Approval, the final stage of its VASP licence. UAE services are set to go live “within weeks”: AED-denominated spot and margin pairs, direct AED deposits and withdrawals, on-chain staking and tokenised US equities xStocks will be available to both retail and institutional clients.
What Kraken received from VARA
VARA (Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority) — Dubai’s dedicated regulator for virtual assets — announced Full Market Approval for Payward FZCO (Kraken’s parent) on 12 October 2026. It is the final stage of VARA’s two-step VASP licensing: full authorisation to serve clients. VARA’s public register lists licence VL/26/10/002 as active, with UAE Capital Market Authority registration CMA-VASP-0101000-0067. Permitted client types: institutional, qualified and retail.
The licensed entity, Payward FZCO, is registered at the DMCC Business Centre (Uptown Tower, Dubai). The licence covers two VARA categories: Broker-Dealer Services and Management and Investment Services. For how the VASP regime itself is structured — VARA’s eight licensable categories and two-stage approval process — see our dedicated guide.
Approval timeline
Payward’s path to a full Dubai licence:
- 2022 — Financial Services Permission (FSP) from ADGM in Abu Dhabi;
- May 2026 — Preliminary Approval from VARA;
- 6 October 2026 — VASP licence issued to Payward FZCO (VL/26/10/002);
- 12 October 2026 — Full Market Approval announced.
About five months separate Preliminary Approval and Full Market Approval — within the typical window cited by VARA licensing advisers.
Services at launch
Within the coming weeks Kraken intends to offer UAE clients:
- AED trading pairs. Spot and margin trading in AED-denominated pairs, with no need to convert via USD or another currency.
- Direct AED deposits and withdrawals. Funding and withdrawals in the national currency.
- On-chain staking. Participation in staking on supported blockchain networks.
- xStocks — tokenised US equities. Tokenised shares of US-listed companies, held and traded on crypto infrastructure.
- Krak app. Peer-to-peer crypto transfers.
- OTC spot and Kraken Prime. Over-the-counter execution and prime brokerage for institutional clients.
Crypto derivatives and additional yield products are expected later — in late 2026 and into 2027. Payward has made clear that these offerings remain “subject to further regulatory approval”.
What changes for UAE clients
AED-denominated pairs remove the conversion layer for local clients: dirhams no longer need to be converted into dollars on the way in and back out. For retail investors that means lower costs and simpler bookkeeping. For institutions it means OTC execution in the national currency and access to Kraken Prime — a prime-brokerage service that bundles spot, margin and staking under one roof.
Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO of Payward and Kraken, said UAE clients would receive from day one “the same order book and multi-asset coverage” as the exchange’s other markets, under one of the clearest regulatory frameworks in the world.
What it means for the market
For VASPs already operating in Dubai or planning to enter, Full Market Approval for a top-tier global exchange is another signal that VARA is a working, predictable regulator. For corporate clients in crypto it widens the toolkit: AED liquidity, prime-brokerage services and legal access to tokenised US equities without having to use offshore venues.
For businesses outside crypto it is an indirect signal that the UAE’s financial-services stack keeps thickening — new asset classes and services that used to be available only abroad are landing locally. For companies weighing a UAE setup it is one more argument for Dubai as a regional financial hub.
Takeaway
VARA’s Full Market Approval for Kraken is a notable moment for the UAE virtual-asset market: one of the world’s top CEXs has full regulatory clearance in Dubai, with services going live within weeks. For retail and institutional clients that means AED pairs, on-chain staking, xStocks tokenised equities and prime brokerage under one roof. Current licence status and the list of permitted services should always be verified in VARA’s public register at vara.ae.
This article is for information only and is not investment, legal or tax advice. Transactions in virtual assets carry a risk of partial or total loss of capital. Current terms, licence status and the list of permitted services are published by the regulator on vara.ae; verify requirements against primary sources and consult qualified professionals before making decisions.
