Kraken parent Payward wins full Dubai VARA license for UAE launch

Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, has received Full Market Approval from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), the final stage of the emirate’s licensing process, according to Financemagnates. The company said it plans to begin serving clients in the United Arab Emirates within weeks.

The approval follows preliminary authorization granted to Payward FZCO in May 2026 for broker-dealer, investment and management services. That earlier clearance let the unit build out local operations but not onboard customers. Crypto.news reported that the new status permits Payward to operate as a regulated Virtual Asset Service Provider and begin onboarding under Dubai’s framework.

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Key facts

• Dubai’s VARA granted Payward Full Market Approval, the last stage of its licensing process, covering retail, professional and institutional investors.
• At launch, UAE clients can trade spot and margin on pairs quoted in UAE dirhams, with direct AED deposits and withdrawals.
• The initial offering includes on-chain staking, tokenized equities through xStocks and crypto transfers via the Krak app, plus OTC spot trading and Kraken Prime for institutions.
• Crypto.news reported that Payward holds more than 100 licenses and registrations across Europe, the Americas, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.
• Crypto derivatives and additional yield products are expected later in 2026 and into 2027, subject to regulatory approval.

A crowded register, entered late

Kraken arrives in a market where larger offshore exchanges have operated for years. Crypto.com’s Dubai entity secured a VARA license for exchange and broker-dealer services in November 2023. Binance Dubai obtained its full license in April 2024 and began shifting UAE users off its global platform that June. Bybit instead announced in October 2025 that it had received a full platform operator license from the UAE’s federal Securities and Commodities Authority.

VARA licenses each activity separately — brokerage, custody, lending and advisory work each carry their own capital requirements set by activity, as Financemagnates noted in a May comparison of the US, EU, Singapore and Dubai crypto frameworks. The regulator also limits retail clients to services it expressly permits.

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Dirhams first, derivatives later

Payward said UAE clients will trade AED-denominated pairs without converting deposits into another fiat currency outside the platform. The announcement did not identify which cryptocurrencies will receive AED pairs at launch.

Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Payward and Kraken, said UAE clients would get “the same order book and multi-asset coverage we run in every other market,” adding that the framework is one of the clearest worldwide. Under VARA’s exchange rulebook, updated in March, a licensed platform needs the regulator’s explicit approval before listing futures, options or perpetual contracts.

Payward also plans to make its trading infrastructure available to regional firms as an embedded service, letting partners integrate those capabilities into their own financial products.

Expansion while volumes fall

The Gulf launch lands in a weaker year for crypto trading. Payward’s adjusted revenue rose 17% year over year to $508 million in the second quarter, while platform transaction volume fell 13% from the first quarter to $310 billion.

Crypto.news reported that Nasdaq agreed in September to invest $100 million in Payward at a reported valuation of $21 billion, with the companies planning to launch Nasdaq Equity Tokens in the second quarter of 2027. Payward, which filed confidentially with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in November 2025, does not plan to list before the second quarter of 2027, CoinDesk reported in September, citing people familiar with the matter.

Crypto.news also reported that Payward connected with Singapore Gulf Bank in October to provide round-the-clock US dollar settlement for selected institutional customers across Asia and the Gulf, with other currencies planned for later phases. Reports of discussions with BNY and Wells Fargo on trading, custody, payments and institutional liquidity had not been confirmed as completed agreements.

Why it matters

The approval gives Kraken a regulated route into a market where its largest offshore competitors already hold licenses, and it hands Dubai’s retail traders a platform that can be marketed to them directly. For institutional clients in the region, the arrival of a second large venue alongside existing operators changes the choice of execution and custody providers.

Payward’s strategy also runs against the grain of a soft trading-volume year: it is adding regulatory surface and product lines even as quarterly transaction volume declined. Its pending US listing and the September Nasdaq investment tie the UAE rollout to a broader push into tokenized equities and settlement infrastructure.

What to watch

Kraken has not given an exact customer launch date, so the first signal is when onboarding actually opens. The next milestones are which assets receive AED pairs, and whether VARA grants the additional approvals needed before derivatives and further yield products can be listed.

This article is not financial advice, and cryptocurrency markets are volatile and uncertain.

Written by

Emily Torres

Emily Torres covers cryptocurrency and decentralized finance for StockPil, tracking blockchain markets and regulatory developments.

Sources: Finance Magnates, Crypto.news