On 6 October 2026, Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority issued Payward FZCO licence VL/26/10/002. The public register entry is active and directs users to Kraken’s UAE website.
The licence covers broker-dealer services and virtual asset management and investment services. VARA permits the entity to serve retail, qualified and institutional investors. The record also carries UAE Capital Market Authority registration CMA-VASP-0101000-0067.
What the licence permits
VARA separates virtual asset business into eight regulated activity categories. Payward’s record names two of them. A firm can combine multiple activities under one overarching licence, but VARA requires it to satisfy the rules for every activity and remain compliant with each set of requirements.
The licensed activities page gives the practical scope of broker-dealer permission. It includes arranging purchases or sales between parties, taking client orders and accepting money or virtual assets for those orders, and matching buyers with sellers. It can also cover dealing on the firm’s own account, making markets with client assets, and placement, distribution or other issuance services for clients that issue virtual assets.
The management and investment permission is different. VARA defines it as acting for another entity as an agent or fiduciary, or taking responsibility for managing, administering or disposing of that entity’s virtual assets. The regulator’s examples include investment management and taking responsibility for staking assets to earn fees or other value paid to proof-of-stake validators or node operators.
Those categories matter more than the broad description of a UAE launch. The register does not list exchange services, custody, lending and borrowing, transfer and settlement, advisory services or virtual asset issuance among Payward FZCO’s licensed activities. VARA tells users to check the full record because every provider is authorized for specific activities and product types.
The licence therefore verifies a local regulated route for brokerage and managed virtual asset services. It does not, by itself, show that every Kraken product available elsewhere can be offered by the Dubai entity. Product availability still has to fit the activities and client condition shown on the register.
Broker-dealer permission is broad enough to cover several different transaction models. Payward can arrange an order between parties, take an order with currency or virtual assets, or facilitate a match between a buyer and seller. VARA also places dealing for the firm’s own account and market making with client assets inside this category. The precise service matters because the same activity label can cover agency-style execution, matching and dealer activity.
Management permission creates a separate diligence path. VARA ties that category to responsibility for another entity’s assets, whether as agent, fiduciary or manager. Its staking example concerns responsibility for assets used to earn validator or node-operator rewards. A customer considering that service should identify which assets Payward manages and which party controls disposal, rather than treating the broker-dealer licence as the source of that authority.
Retail access comes with a defined entity
The client condition is broad. Payward FZCO may serve institutional investors, qualified investors and retail investors. For users, the practical change is that the public record identifies the legal entity, its permitted activity categories and an active licence reference that can be checked before opening or funding an account.
The regulator lists Payward FZCO’s principal place of business at the DMCC Business Centre in Uptown Tower, Dubai. It links that entity to kraken.com/ae rather than leaving users to infer which website or group company holds the permission. That distinction matters when account terms, complaints or service restrictions depend on the contracting entity.
VARA’s register distinguishes a full VASP licence from in-principle approval. The regulator says an in-principle approval is only a conditional licensing step. A holder of that preliminary status cannot start virtual asset activities or serve clients until it obtains the full licence. Payward’s entry is marked as a VASP Licence with active status, not as an in-principle approval.
A full licence still has boundaries. VARA says licensed providers cannot use their regulated activity licence for proprietary trading or for trading their group’s asset portfolio. Proprietary trading requires a separate company. The rule prevents readers from treating broker-dealer authorization as unrestricted permission for every form of principal trading.
Custody also sits outside the combination rule used for most activities. VARA requires virtual asset custody to be segregated in a distinct legal entity with a standalone licence. Payward FZCO’s entry does not list custody services. Users should not read the broker-dealer and management permissions as proof that the same entity holds a Dubai custody licence.
What operators should verify
Protocols, funds and treasury teams dealing with the UAE entity can check three things directly in the regulatory record: the entity name, the authorized activity and the client class. A broker relationship falls within the listed scope when it involves orders, matching or the other broker-dealer functions VARA defines. A managed account or staking arrangement relies on the separate management and investment permission.
The distinction affects due diligence. A counterparty can be regulated for arranging or managing virtual asset transactions without holding every permission required for exchange operation, custody, lending or settlement. Teams should map the proposed service to the register rather than relying on the Kraken brand or a general statement that the company is licensed in Dubai.
VARA says any virtual asset service provider must receive the relevant licence before beginning regulated activity in or from Dubai. That requirement applies whether the provider serves Dubai residents or global customers where the activity is otherwise permitted. The authority describes itself as the sole virtual asset regulator across Dubai’s mainland and free zones, except for the Dubai International Financial Centre.
The open question is the product rollout. The public record confirms the entity, status, client classes and activity perimeter, but it does not provide a launch date or list the specific trading, investment or staking products Payward FZCO will make available under the licence.
