Crypto license in United Arab Emirates

Licensing regimeLast reviewed 2026-08-24

Do you need a crypto license in United Arab Emirates?

Yes, but the first question is not how to apply, it is where. The UAE has five separate crypto regulators, and the one that applies to you is decided by where in the country you incorporate rather than by what you intend to do.

Read this before you plan an application

An In-Principle Approval is not a licence and does not permit onboarding clients or holding assets. Check whether a counterparty holds a granted licence and whether its operating conditions have been satisfied, not merely that it appears on a register.

Almost every guide to UAE crypto licensing makes the same mistake, which is to describe VARA as the UAE's crypto regulator. It is Dubai's. VARA covers Dubai mainland and every Dubai free zone except the Dubai International Financial Centre, which the DFSA regulates under its own rulebook. Abu Dhabi is a different emirate entirely, where ADGM's Financial Services Regulatory Authority has run its own regime since 2018. The Central Bank covers payment tokens, and the federal Capital Market Authority, renamed from the Securities and Commodities Authority on 1 January 2026, covers the rest of the country. Choosing between them is the real decision, and it is made before a single form is filled in.

Regime: Licensing regime
Regulator: Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) for Dubai, plus four others
Framework: Dubai Law No. 4 of 2022 Regulating Virtual Assets (2022)
Application fee: AED 40,000 for Advisory and for Transfer and Settlement, up to AED 100,000 for Broker-Dealer, Custody, Exchange, Lending and Borrowing, and Management and Investment (VARA)
Minimum capital: From AED 100,000 for Advisory up to AED 1,500,000 for an Exchange, reduced to AED 800,000 where a VARA-licensed custodian is used
Annual fee: Twice the application fee, charged per activity, so an Exchange licence carries AED 200,000 a year
Time to license: Four to seven months is a realistic range for a VARA licence, and the domestic bank account is usually the step that decides where in that range you land rather than the regulator's own review.
Foreign owners: Foreign ownership is normal and is not the constraint. What is required is real presence: a physical office in the emirate and UAE-resident responsible individuals assessed as fit and proper before the licence can be used.

Five regulators, one country

VARA, Dubai mainland and all Dubai free zones except DIFC. Created by Dubai Law No. 4 of 2022.
DFSA, inside the DIFC only. Its crypto token rules changed on 12 January 2026: the prescribed list of recognised tokens was abolished, and firms must now assess each token against DFSA criteria on a reasoned and documented basis.
FSRA, inside ADGM in Abu Dhabi. A separate emirate, not a Dubai carve-out, and one of the earliest regimes anywhere to regulate virtual asset trading venues.
Central Bank of the UAE, for payment tokens. A virtual asset designed to hold a stable value against the dirham is reserved to the Central Bank, so a dirham stablecoin issuer does not go to VARA.
Capital Market Authority, federal, covering the rest of the UAE outside the financial free zones. It was the Securities and Commodities Authority until Federal Decree-Laws No. 32 and 33 of 2025 reconstituted it on 1 January 2026, so any guide still calling it the SCA is out of date.

Why Dubai is usually the answer

Under a cooperation agreement between VARA and the federal regulator from September 2024, a firm licensed by VARA is automatically registered federally and can serve customers across the UAE. Before that agreement a Dubai VASP needed both. That is a genuine advantage of the VARA route and it is rarely mentioned in fee comparisons.

How VARA licences work

VARA licenses by activity, not by firm, across eight categories: Advisory, Broker-Dealer, Custody, Exchange, Lending and Borrowing, Management and Investment, Transfer and Settlement, and Virtual Asset Issuance. Each is applied for separately.

Application fees run from AED 40,000 for Advisory and Transfer and Settlement to AED 100,000 for Broker-Dealer, Custody, Exchange, Lending and Borrowing, and Management and Investment. The annual supervision fee is twice the application fee, charged per activity at the full rate. A second activity is charged at 50 percent of the lower of the two application fees, so adding Advisory to a Broker-Dealer licence costs AED 20,000 rather than AED 40,000. A multi-activity VASP's annual bill therefore rises considerably faster than its application bill.

Two things that catch people out

An In-Principle Approval is not a licence. A firm holding only an IPA may not onboard clients, hold client assets, or carry on virtual asset activity.

And a granted licence is usually subject to operating conditions that must be satisfied before the business can trade: a physical office, UAE-resident responsible individuals assessed as fit and proper, visas, a domestic bank account and a working compliance function. Securing that bank account is routinely the longest step in the whole process.

License classes in United Arab Emirates

License classes, the activities each covers, and their fees and capital requirements where published.
Class	Covers	Fee	Capital
Advisory	Advising on virtual assets	AED 40,000 application	From AED 100,000
Transfer and Settlement	Virtual asset transfer and settlement services	AED 40,000 application	Not published
Broker-Dealer	Broker-dealer services in virtual assets	AED 100,000 application	Not published
Custody	Holding virtual assets on behalf of clients	AED 100,000 application	Not published
Exchange	Operating a virtual asset exchange	AED 100,000 application	Up to AED 1,500,000, or AED 800,000 with a VARA-licensed custodian
Lending and Borrowing	Virtual asset lending and borrowing	AED 100,000 application	Not published
Management and Investment	Managing and investing virtual assets for clients	AED 100,000 application	Not published
Virtual Asset Issuance	Issuing virtual assets. Dirham-referenced stablecoins are reserved to the Central Bank	Not published	Not published

What the application requires

A UAE entity in the relevant jurisdiction, incorporated before applying
Physical office in the emirate
UAE-resident responsible individuals assessed as fit and proper
Domestic bank account, routinely the longest step to complete
Paid up capital matching the activity applied for
Anti-money-laundering compliance function and policies
Separate application for each virtual asset activity

The application process

Choose the jurisdiction first
Dubai outside DIFC means VARA; DIFC means DFSA; Abu Dhabi means ADGM; elsewhere means the federal Capital Market Authority
Incorporate
Set up the entity in the chosen jurisdiction
Apply per activity
File a separate application for each of the activities you intend to carry on
In-Principle Approval
Granted before the licence. It does not permit onboarding clients or holding assets
Satisfy operating conditions
Office, resident responsible individuals, visas, bank account and compliance stack
Licence granted
Trading may begin once the conditions attaching to the licence are met

Costs and taxation

The headline application fee understates the running cost, because annual supervision is twice the application fee and is charged per activity at full rate, while additional activities are discounted only at application. Budget the annual figure, not the entry figure.

UAE federal corporate tax is 9 percent on taxable income above AED 375,000 and zero below it. Free zone entities meeting the qualifying conditions can access a zero percent rate on qualifying income, which is a matter of substance and activity rather than of address.

Who is licensed today

VARA publishes its own register of licensed VASPs and passed its fiftieth licence in mid-2026. No UAE regulator publishes a consolidated count across all five registers, so any single UAE-wide total comes from a private aggregation rather than from a regulator.

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Frequently asked questions

Does VARA regulate crypto across the whole UAE?

No. VARA covers Dubai mainland and Dubai free zones except the DIFC. The DFSA covers DIFC, ADGM's FSRA covers Abu Dhabi, the Central Bank covers payment tokens, and the federal Capital Market Authority covers the rest.

How much does a VARA licence cost?

Application fees run from AED 40,000 to AED 100,000 depending on activity, and the annual supervision fee is twice the application fee, charged per activity.

Can I operate with an In-Principle Approval?

No. An IPA is not a licence. A firm holding only an IPA may not onboard clients, hold client assets or carry on virtual asset activity.

Does a Dubai VARA licence let me serve customers elsewhere in the UAE?

Yes. Under a cooperation agreement from September 2024, a VARA-licensed firm is automatically registered with the federal regulator and can serve the wider UAE.

Can I issue a dirham stablecoin under a VARA licence?

No. Virtual assets designed to hold a stable value against the dirham are reserved to the Central Bank of the UAE.

What is the corporate tax rate for a UAE crypto company?

Federal corporate tax is 9 percent above AED 375,000 of taxable income and zero below it, with a qualifying free zone regime that can reach zero percent on qualifying income.

Sources

Buying bitcoin as an individual is a different question entirely: how to buy bitcoin in United Arab Emirates covers exchanges, payment methods and legality for residents, and the crypto license hub compares every jurisdiction we track.