Kraken Wins Full VARA Approval, Targets UAE Launch With Dirham Trading Within Weeks

Payward, the parent company of Kraken, has received Full Market Approval from Dubai's Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority, the company said on Monday, allowing it to operate as a regulated virtual asset service provider for retail, professional and institutional clients. Kraken plans to go live for UAE customers in the coming weeks.

The approval is the final stage of VARA's licensing process and follows the preliminary approval Payward received in May. At launch, UAE clients will have access to spot and margin trading in dirham-denominated pairs, dirham deposits and withdrawals, on-chain staking, the xStocks tokenised equities product and Kraken's Krak app for crypto transfers. Institutions will get OTC spot trading and the Kraken Prime brokerage service. Payward also plans to offer its infrastructure to regional partners through an embedded trading-as-a-service product.

"From launch, clients in the UAE get the same order book and multi-asset coverage we run in every other market," said Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Payward and Kraken.

Crypto derivatives and additional yield products are expected later in 2026 and into 2027, subject to further regulatory approval. That leaves Kraken without the perpetual futures products that drive much of the volume at rivals in the region at launch.

Dirham pairs and local banking rails are the main competitive point. Binance, OKX, Bybit and Crypto.com all hold VARA licences, and Dubai's regime has become the default entry point for global exchanges seeking a regulated base in the Gulf. Kraken was early to the region in a different form, having received a licence from Abu Dhabi Global Market's financial regulator in 2022, which the new release does not mention.

The UAE approval adds to a licensing push by Payward, which says it holds more than 100 licences and registrations globally. The company reported 6.6 million funded accounts as of June 30. Kraken has not disclosed a target for UAE users or a date for the derivatives launch.