Kraken Targets UAE Launch After Payward Wins Full VARA Approval

Kraken is preparing to open in the United Arab Emirates after its parent company, Payward, received Full Market Approval from Dubai's Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority. The exchange expects to start serving clients there in the coming weeks.

The decision is the final step in VARA's licensing process. It allows Payward to operate as a regulated virtual asset service provider covering retail, professional and institutional investors. Payward cleared a preliminary approval in May 2026, which gave it room to finish operational preparations before taking on clients.

The gap between the two approvals was spent on the unglamorous side of a launch: the groundwork and systems that have to be in place before a single account is opened.

What goes live first

Trading starts with spot and margin markets quoted in dirham-denominated pairs. Funding and withdrawals run directly in AED, so clients move money in the currency they already hold instead of routing it through a dollar conversion. Margin trading, where clients borrow against collateral, is part of the opening line-up rather than a later addition.

• Spot and margin trading on AED pairs
• Deposits and withdrawals in dirhams
• On-chain staking
• xStocks, tokenised US-listed equities
• The Krak app for crypto transfers

Staking lets clients earn rewards on supported assets. xStocks give them tokenised exposure to US-listed shares. The Krak app covers transfers.

Institutional clients get a separate package: over-the-counter spot trading, which handles orders away from the public order book, plus Kraken Prime, the firm's prime brokerage service.

Further products are queued but not cleared. Crypto derivatives and additional yield offerings are expected later in 2026 and into 2027, and each remains subject to regulatory approval before it reaches clients.

Payward also intends to supply its infrastructure to regional partners through embedded trading as a service, a route that would let other firms offer crypto trading on Kraken's rails without building their own.

One order book, one framework

Arjun Sethi, co-chief executive of Payward and Kraken, said the UAE product would not be a pared-back local version of the platform.

"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," he said.

The launch follows a pattern Payward has set for itself: building regulated operations in major financial centres rather than serving customers from outside them. In 2022 the company obtained a Financial Services Permission licence from Abu Dhabi Global Market, giving it a second regulatory foothold in the country alongside the Dubai approval.

Full approval is the gate that matters in Dubai, and Payward now holds it. What remains is execution: bringing clients onto the platform in the weeks ahead.