Robinhood Wins DFSA Approval to Launch Middle East Platform in 2027
The US brokerage will base regional operations in the DIFC under a licence covering all 10 asset classes the regulator permits, including crypto and tokenised securities.
Robinhood has won authorization from the Dubai Financial Services Authority to offer its retail investing platform in the Middle East, with a launch planned for 2027.
The US brokerage will run the regional operation from the Dubai International Financial Centre. Its licence covers trading and custody across all 10 asset classes the DFSA permits, among them equities, crypto, exchange-traded funds and investment tokens, the regulator's term for tokens carrying rights similar to traditional securities, such as tokenised shares.
Robinhood said the launch would give local investors wider access to the global economy. The company applied for a DFSA licence in August 2025 and started hiring in Dubai at the same time. Robinhood MENA Limited now appears on the DFSA's public register of authorized firms.
Vlad Tenev, Robinhood's chairman and chief executive, called the DIFC "one of the world's most important financial hubs" and said the expansion brings the firm closer to a global platform that lets "anyone, anywhere" own high-quality financial assets.
one of the world's most important financial hubs
Arif Amiri, chief executive of the DIFC Authority, said Robinhood's arrival "further strengthens DIFC's ecosystem" and reflects the calibre of international firms choosing Dubai as a base for regional expansion.
The scope of the approval is unusual in what it leaves out: nothing among the permitted categories. A single entity can trade and hold digital assets alongside conventional ones, which shortens the path for a retail brokerage that sells both. For the DIFC, the licence adds a consumer-facing name to a roster long weighted toward banks and asset managers.
