VARA, Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority

Jurisdiction	The Emirate of Dubai, including special development zones and free zones, excluding the Dubai International Financial Centre.
Established by	Law No. (4) of 2022 Regulating Virtual Assets in the Emirate of Dubai, which created VARA as a public corporation and made it the competent entity for regulating virtual-asset services in the emirate.
Framework	The Virtual Assets and Related Activities Regulations 2023 and the VARA Rulebooks.
What it licenses	Virtual-asset activities as defined in the regulations. VARA's licensed-activities page lists the current activities and says the list is designed to evolve. Custody is the one activity that must be run as a separate legal entity with its own standalone licence.
Check a firm	The public register on vara.ae lists licensed virtual-asset service providers.

No person may conduct a licensable virtual-asset activity in the emirate without a permit from VARA. A business must also establish itself in the emirate and obtain VARA's approvals before starting the commercial-licensing process. Rule Law No. (4) of 2022, Article 15

New firms apply in two stages: an Approval to Incorporate, and then a VASP Licence. VARA may decline a licence where the firm's activities fall outside its perimeter or the firm does not meet its standards. Guidance VARA: Licence applications

For federal anti-money-laundering purposes, VARA is the supervisory authority for virtual-asset service providers and virtual-asset activities in the emirate. Rule VARA Rulebook, Introduction

Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA)

Ready when the clock runs out