Kraken Parent Payward Gets Full Dubai Licence to Expand in UAE

Kraken's parent firm, Payward, has obtained all regulatory approvals to offer cryptocurrency trading and financial services in Dubai to retail, professional, and institutional clients in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Following an announcement made by Payward, it has been revealed that the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) in Dubai has approved Payward for Full Market Approval as a regulated Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP), enabling it to onboard clients. It should be noted that Payward already got initial approval back in May 2026.

Kraken plans dirham trading and institutional services under Dubai approval

As per the Businesswire release, upon the service's introduction, UAE users will be offered AED-denominated deposits and withdrawals and spot and margin markets for cryptocurrency trading in UAE dirhams.

The institutions will benefit from over-the-counter spot trading and Kraken Prime, among other services like on-chain staking, tokenised equity products (xStocks), and crypto transfers with Kraken. In May, a preliminary approval from the VARA included several intended activities related to broker-dealer, investment, and management services. However, Payward was required to meet additional criteria before beginning the service provision.

Market Approval allows the corporation to start the regulated operations covered under its approval. Payward said the UAE product would provide customers access to Kraken's trading system and liquidity network. Arjun Sethi, co-CEO at Payward and Kraken, said that customers in the UAE would get access to the same order book as the rest of the markets.

“From launch, clients in the UAE get the same order book and multi-asset coverage we run in every other market, under one of the clearest regulatory frameworks in the world,” Sethi said.

An exact launch date for customers is not mentioned by Payward in the press release. However, the company did give out information regarding the services that will be offered. Payward intends to use its trading facilities to support its regional partners. Regional companies will have access to trading services offered by Payward to add to their existing financial offerings.

The direct support of UAE Dirham will make it possible for eligible Kraken users to deposit and withdraw money in the local currency. There will be no need to convert deposits from one fiat currency to another before trading crypto pairs denominated in AED.

Tokenised financial products and expansion plans

The statement did not specify which cryptocurrencies will get AED pairs on launch. Spot and margin trading will be allowed under the approved services, whereas institutional clients will get access to OTC execution via Kraken and Prime platforms.

Payward's expansion in the UAE is a continuation of its efforts to grow tokenised financial products, especially in its partnership with the London Stock Exchange (LSE) to tokenise traditional stocks. The partnership announced in September meant that LSE will work with Payward to tokenise the stocks of the 100 largest London-listed firms using the xStocks tokenisation protocol, paving the way for trading of the products via the stock exchange's proposed 24/7 platform. An xStock is backed 1:1 by the underlying security itself. The crypto products, which are blockchain-based, can be traded 24/7 on selected centralised exchanges, stored in self-custody wallets, and interfaced with on-chain apps.