Kraken's Dubai arm cleared by VARA to offer spot, margin, OTC, staking, Prime and AED banking

Payward FZCO, the parent company of Kraken, secured preliminary authorization from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) that will allow it to offer spot trading, margin services, over-the-counter (OTC) execution, staking products, and Kraken Prime institutional services to customers in the United Arab Emirates ^{[1] [2] [3]}.

The approval covers broker-dealer, investment and management permissions under VARA’s framework and includes plans to enable AED deposits and withdrawals, with local dirham funding expected to be available this year, according to company disclosures and reporting on the regulatory filing ^{[4] [2] [3]}.

Kraken’s Dubai move builds on its earlier regulatory steps in the UAE and highlights Dubai’s continued expansion as a regulated hub for virtual asset firms, with VARA’s public register showing a growing number of licensed entities in the jurisdiction ^{[4] [5]}.

With VARA’s preliminary sign-off, Kraken is positioned to roll out retail and institutional services in the UAE under Payward’s Dubai license, marking a notable expansion of its Middle East operations ^{[1] [4]}.