Robinhood Wins DFSA Authorization to Launch Middle East Platform From DIFC

Robinhood has won authorization from the Dubai Financial Services Authority to run its retail investing platform across the Middle East from the Dubai International Financial Centre.

The permission stretches further than a plain brokerage license. Robinhood is cleared for trading and custody across all ten asset classes the DFSA approves, among them equities, crypto, exchange-traded funds and investment tokens. The company plans to launch its regional products in 2027.

That leaves a gap between approval and first product. Robinhood will spend it assembling local operations under a license that lets it hold client assets as well as execute orders. Combining custody with trading in a single jurisdiction gives the platform a local home for customer assets rather than an offshore arrangement, a structure supervisors examine closely when retail crypto and equity accounts sit inside the same entity.

The breadth of the approval says something about how Robinhood means to enter. Instead of starting with one product and adding permissions later, it holds a mandate wide enough to run equities, funds, crypto and tokenized instruments from the outset — a heavier compliance load, and a shorter path to a full platform once products go live.

Covering crypto and investment tokens alongside equities and ETFs means the Dubai entity is licensed for digital assets and conventional securities under one permission. Robinhood runs those businesses through its crypto and international arm.

Vlad Tenev, the company's chairman and chief executive, framed the move around reach. He called the DIFC one of the world's most important financial hubs and said establishing a presence there advances Robinhood's goal of a global platform on which anyone can own high-quality financial assets.

Tenev started Robinhood in 2013 with Baiju Bhatt. Both are Stanford graduates. The company is headquartered in Menlo Park, California, and shipped its mobile app in 2015, built on a narrow and then-uncommon proposition: ordinary people should be able to buy and sell stocks without paying trading commissions. That pitch turned commission-free trading into Robinhood's calling card. Robinhood listed on Nasdaq in 2021 under the ticker HOOD.

Johann Kerbrat, senior vice president and general manager of Robinhood Crypto and International, said the DIFC has grown into a dynamic center for financial innovation just as retail investors across MENA arrive in growing numbers. Robinhood, he said, will put accessible financial tools in their hands.

Arif Amiri, chief executive of the DIFC Authority, said Robinhood's choice of the center for its regional headquarters reinforces Dubai's position as a global hub for financial innovation. The company's record of broadening participation in financial markets, he said, positions it to help develop the region's investment landscape.

Salah Kaddoura becomes senior executive officer and president of Robinhood MENA, leading regional operations and overseeing the local team. He brings fintech and investment experience from across the region.

The local team and the 2027 product rollout will both run out of the DIFC, where the license was granted.