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Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, has secured Full Market Approval from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), according to Bitcoinmagazine. The approval clears the final stage of the emirate’s licensing process and lets Payward operate as a regulated virtual asset service provider for retail, professional and institutional investors.
Kraken has not set an exact onboarding date, but says it plans to start serving clients in the United Arab Emirates within weeks, per Financemagnates. The award follows the preliminary authorization Payward FZCO received in May for a broker-dealer, investment and management license, which allowed the unit to build local operations but not to onboard clients. Payward’s preliminary approval in May covered planned broker-dealer, investment and management services, and the company still had to complete the regulator’s remaining requirements before starting operations, Crypto.news reported.
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Key facts
- Dubai’s VARA granted Payward Full Market Approval, following preliminary authorization in May 2026.
- At launch, UAE clients can fund and withdraw in UAE dirhams and trade spot and margin pairs quoted in the local currency.
- Other initial services include on-chain staking, xStocks tokenized equities and Krak crypto transfers; institutional clients get OTC spot trading and Kraken Prime.
- Payward says it holds more than 100 licenses and registrations worldwide, across Europe, the Americas, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.
- In September, Nasdaq agreed to invest $100 million in Payward at a reported $21 billion valuation.
Dirham accounts first, derivatives later
Direct support for the dirham means eligible Kraken customers can fund accounts and withdraw in local currency without first converting deposits into another fiat currency outside the platform, Crypto.news reported. The announcement did not identify which cryptocurrencies will receive AED trading pairs at launch. Payward said the UAE offering connects customers to Kraken’s existing trading infrastructure and liquidity network.
Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Payward and Kraken, said UAE clients would get the same order book and multi-asset coverage the company runs in every other market, per Financemagnates. Crypto derivatives and additional yield products are expected later in 2026 and into 2027, subject to regulatory approval. Under VARA’s exchange rulebook, updated in March, a licensed platform needs the regulator’s explicit approval before it lists futures, options or perpetual contracts.
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Payward also plans to make its trading infrastructure available to regional firms as an embedded service, letting partners integrate its capabilities into their own financial products. The company has separately been building institutional settlement arrangements in the Gulf; in October it connected with Singapore Gulf Bank to provide round-the-clock U.S. dollar settlement for selected institutional customers across Asia and the Gulf, with other currencies planned for later phases, according to Crypto.news.
Why it matters
Kraken arrives late to a crowded register. Crypto.com’s Dubai entity secured a VARA license for exchange and broker-dealer services in November 2023, Binance Dubai received its full license in April 2024 and Bybit announced in October 2025 that it had obtained a full platform operator license from the UAE’s federal Securities and Commodities Authority. Dubai’s regime licenses each activity separately, from brokerage and custody to lending and advisory work, with capital requirements set by activity. VARA limits retail clients to services it expressly permits.
The expansion lands in a weaker year for crypto trading volumes. 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. Payward filed confidentially with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in November 2025 and does not plan to list before the second quarter of 2027, CoinDesk reported in September, according to Financemagnates.
What to watch
Kraken has not given a precise customer launch date, so the next marker is the start of client onboarding in the UAE. Also unannounced: which cryptocurrencies get AED pairs, and which individual tokenized assets or yield products will be available to UAE customers. Payward and Nasdaq expect Nasdaq Equity Tokens to launch in the second quarter of 2027.
Sources: Bitcoin Magazine, Crypto.news, Financemagnates
